


The tales of the assassins

by Odvie



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Asshole Thranduil, Elrond likes the birds, Galadriel knows, Haldir is a creep, Keith is an angry mama bird, Lindir has a bad day, Matthew is a papa bird, Multi, No one likes goblins either, No one likes orcs, Orcs are bad - let's kill them, the riders take no shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-01-28 22:56:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 29,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21400015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Odvie/pseuds/Odvie
Summary: Some strange flying riders are spotted in the woods bording Imladris. The lord Elrond would like to avoid another headache, Glorfindel wants to fight and Lindir is NOT having a good day.
Relationships: Elrond Peredhel/Lindir
Comments: 12
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Blame my brain who doesn't want to focus on my other works.  
English is not my first language and I still work to improve it.  
Enjoy. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange flying riders are spotted and Lindir is having the scare of his life.

** Chapter 1 : a strange encounter **

The forrest bording Imladris was known to be quite safe, even with the occasionnal pack of orcs to slay or chase away. Traders could cross the borders without trouble and travellers could come and go unharmed : the elves were guarding their land with an unegaled efficienty.  
But for the last months, things have been worrying since the company of Thorin had left the city : the orcs had been bolder in their attempt to intrude the elven lands and more and more were coming to attack. And as if orcs had not been enough of a headache for the lord Elrond, a hunting-party came back talking about a rider and an uncommon mount they had met near the borders.  
“You said it was a grey hippogriff?” Repeated Elrond, unsure if he had to prepare a group of warriors or leave this rider alone.  
“Yes, my lord.” Spoke one of the elves. “A strange rider covered by a dark blue coat with a hood on hiding its face. The hippogriff was saddled.”  
This seemed to be an unusual rider. Even in his long life, Elrond had never heard of someone who could ride hippogriffs. Those winged creatures were just not used by people because of their look and their dangerous temper making them almost impossible to approach.  
“Is this rider aggressive ? Did it or its mount try to attack you or the others hunters ?  
-They didn't my lord. They were too busy hunting a deer to care for us. They flew away with their prey after killing it swiftly by an arrow.  
-Good, do not engage this rider if it doesn't try to attack. We need more informations about them. Tell the rangers to observe this rider and to send me reports everytime they see him or her.”

And that's how the elves of Imladris usually scouting the area for orcs and thieves had now to watch for a grey hippogriff rider with a dark blue coat. But soon, a problem arose : there was more than one hippogriff rider seen in the forrest. Always hunting some food before flying away with their prey or carefully picking some plants, and also killing orcs whenever they met them.

“A whole pack of orcs killed ?  
-Yes, my lord. By 3 riders. Like the first one you described but smaller and with different hoods and different hippogriffs. One is white with red borders and has an albino beast. Another is black with blue paterns and his mount is entirely black. And the last is dark red with a chestnut-colored hippogriff.  
-Could they be with the first rider ?  
-Certainly, my lord. They must have their base somewhere near our borders to go hunting and gathering herbs in our woods.  
-I see... Locate them.”

Lindir was NOT having a good day.  
First the guests have been harder than usual to deal with, something with the orcs attacks apparently. Then, he simply wanted to explore the hills nearby so he could find some inspiration for his songs.  
Being embusced by orcs wasn't in his program for the day.  
The ministrel wasn't a fighter and had to run for his life until he bumped into a body. A humanoïd body covered by a white and red hood who nearly fell on the ground by the impact.  
The white hippogriff next to the rider looked at him with big eyes, obviously surprised by the elf. A croon coming from his right made him bite back a whimper : another monster ?  
He turned around slowly and saw the two other riders and their mounts, looking at him and not knowing what to do with him.  
This was how Lindir was going to die : maimed by three beasts and their riders. Certainly better than being slaughtered by orcs... A shame he never told the lord Elrond about his feelings and...  
The white hppogriff sniffed him curiously, not showing any sign of agression. Were they friendly ?  
Suddently, the three beasts froze, pupils slitted and growled, head turned in the same direction where were coming the sounds of the orcs coming. The riders armed their bows and readied themselves.  
The black hooded rider suddently pushed the elf out the way and fired at the pack of orcs.  
The next thing the ministrel knew : he was lying on the ground, curled into a ball and the three riders with their mounts fought the orcs and killed them all, using their arrows, long daggers and strange weapons who seemed to be hidden blades deploying from under their wrists.  
When the battle stopped, he felt a pair of hands touching him and helping him to get up. He complied and looked around : the place was a mess and he counted twelve corpses lying on the ground, most of them were still twitching and the smell was so bad he felt as if he was going to vomit.  
The hippogriffs huffed and the riders seemed to chat together with hushed tones in front fo him, then the three nodded together before turning their head toward the elf.  
Oh no.  
This time he was really going to die...  
The scream he made as the three riders manhandled him to put on the black hippogriff back before mounting their beast and taking off was loud enough to be heard for kilometers around. He was gripping the feathered neck in front of him, feeling the riders' warm body against his back. He was flying ! They were certainly bringing him to his death ! He would not see his lord again and … Wait, they were flying toward Imladris ! Were they coming to bring blood and death upon his people ?!  
The black rider whistled sharply and flew higher, leading the small flock as they approached the city. Soon, some trumpets resonnated in alarm and guards were running around, yelling orders at each other.  
The riders spotted a place wide enough and hovered until their beasts could land safely.  
Well safely... Without counting the armed guards surrounding them...  
The dark red rider said something Lindir couldn't understand at the black one. They patted their beasts and they dismounted easily before a tall blond elf in armor walked toward them with two swords in his hands.  
“Release him, you fools !”  
The white hippogriff growled as the black one hissed in answer. The third tilted his head on the side and huffed as the black rider helped Lindir to get down and gently pushed toward the blond.  
“What ? Just like that ? No fight ?!” Reacted the armored elf. “Oh come on ! You can't be serious ! Where is the heroism, here ?!  
-It's enough, Glorfindel !”  
Lindir felt as he was ready to faint : his lord Elrond was here !  
“Lindir, are you alright ?” Asked the lord with a worried expression.  
“I am unharmed, my lord.” Answered the ministrel. “A group of orcs tried to attack me and I bumped into those three as I was running to save my life. They protected me and killed the orcs and now, it seems they have decided to bring me back to Imladris.”  
Elrond nodded but he knew some of the guards would need more than words to not attack the riders and their beasts. Now, if he could stop Glorfindel to try and anger them... It would be great.  
“FIGHT ME !” Yelled the blond elf to the white rider who decided to unsheathe its own daggers, ready for a fight against the elf.  
A deafening whistle came from the roof and everyone could see a large grey hippogriff with the dark blue rider on its back. The hood hid his face but the elves could easily recognize this one as a male rider, taller and visibly older than the three standing in the place. He and his mount were standing on the nearest roof and his gaze was locked on the smaller trio who looked sheepish and tried to make themselves smaller. Elrond tilted his head : the trio was young but clearly approaching adulthood. He could see it on their face, even hidden by their hoods. And the adult on the roof was obviously an authority figure.  
The white rider sheathed back his daggers and mounted his beast, followed by the two others, and the trio took flight under the stern watch of the taller rider.  
Elrond watched them interact : they were obviously close enough for the adult to search after them and to be obeyed without problem. The bigger one gestued something to the three and flew away, followed by the trio who glanced a last time at Lindir.  
“My lord !” Called a soldier. “What do we do, now ?  
-Gather a small team of our fastest riders and follow them. Locate their base but do not attack. I want to observe them more before taking a decision about their fate.”  
If those riders were intelligent enough to train hippogriffs, maybe Elrond could start some diplomatic relations with them. The best would be to have a group of allies capable of flying those dangerous beasts to protect his borders. But if they were hostile toward his people, he would have no choice but to wipe them out. He had the valley to protect after all. And a minstrel to check over for injuries.  
He mentally sweared that if his song bird had been hurt by the riders, the diplomatic approach wasn't going to be his first option. No, he would send Glorfindel to deal with them personally.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of Elrond's guests is assassinated, the elves are not pleased.

** Chapter 2 : The merchant's death **

Elronds'riders had been successful with locating the hippogriffs riders'place. They were based in a small renovated village in the hills near the south borders. Elrond remembered this place : it had been attacked one day by goblins, years ago, and no one had ever tried to step a foot in since.  
Well, it seemed this was now lively again...  
He decided to wait a bit before sending messengers. For now, scouts were enough : they needed more informations on the inhabitants.  
The problem ? The hippogriffs were not kept inside closed stables and they tended to protect the village fiercely, making the scouts run away for their safety more than once.  
Maybe Elrond needed a different approach, but for now he was busy with the merchant in front of him : this man was hateful but he was one of the few with good quality products to come here with his convoys. Still better than nothing.

Lindir reviewed his list of guests. Since the orcs attack and his meeting with the flying riders, he had decided to never leave Imladris but it seemed those riders would not leave him alone today as he saw the black hippogriff hovering and landing near him with its hooded rider on his back.  
"Good afternoon, Lindir." Greeted a young feminine voice. "I'm just here to ask some information about one of your guests. Do you have a merchant called Damian Tergarien in your city ?"  
This rider was female ! And speaking the language of Men !  
The elf gulped : did he really have to answer ? Was would happen if he refused to cooperate ? He saw the sharp beak and talons of the winged beast and bit back a wince : this rider could easily kill him ! Maybe the best would be to cooperate here...  
"Actually, we have." He answered with an unsteady voice. "He is not due to leave before the next two days."  
He hesitated but asked anyway, deciding to show some bravery :  
"Why are you interrested in this merchant ? Do you and your fellows have business with him as well ?  
-Actually, we don't." Spoke the rider calmly. "Let's say this man leads of sort of market which is particulary bad. We are trying to find more about this... But you don't have to worry about that : last time we checked no elves were concerned. Thank you for your informations, Lindir. Here is a small gift for you as payment."  
She gave him a small geode already broken in halves, revelating its beautiful cristalised content.  
"I found this in a cave up the hills. Now I have to go. Til next time."  
She took flight and left Lindir alone with his list and his fist-sized geode. He was still shivering in fear but at least, he didn't have to flee from orcs.  
A small part of him wondered what would lord Elrond think about his chat with the rider. Would he be disappointed with him ? He would never be able to hide something like that from his lord ! He started to pace around, fidgetting the list and the geode. What to do ? What to tell ?  
"Is something wrong, Lindir ?"  
And there was his lord... Those riders were going to be the death of him...

Needless to say, the lord wasn't all pleased by the news : a part of him wanted to send warriors toward the riders'village for intruding the city and scaring his minstrel. Another part of him was curious about the riders'interrests in the human merchant. The last part of him was proud of his assistant who had managed to get more informations about the riders themselves : they were human. That wasn't that bad. And the black rider was a young human woman. He let Lindir go back to his quarters with his prize : the geode. This had been given in exchange for informations by the rider but since his minstrel managed to not panic and gather some informations, Elrond felt the younger elf really deserved the gift.  
He wondered if he could find a way to get more geodes like this. Was it from the goblins-infested caverns ? The hills were known for the abundance of goblins. Were the riders cleaning this area too ?  
He sighed : another headache incoming...

Damian Tergarien was dead the exact day he departed, killed by a blade in his neck just then he and his convoy exited the hidden valley. Nothing had been stolen, the companions were alive and unharmed. Only the merchant had been killed by someone who had been surprisingly fast and agile enough to attack from the trees.  
The scouts had been ordered earlier to watch out and to try and capture the culprit. They found it : one of the hooded hyppogiff riders. This one was wearing a very light brown hood and the mount was sand-colored. The rider mounted its beast and took flight but the elven archers were having none of it : they armed their bows with drugged arrows and shot the wings, making the creature cry in pain and provoquing its fall.  
When they found the beast sound asleep, the rider was nowhere to be found until it attacked, blades unsheathed from its arms. The attacks were fast. Their foe was agile and sharp, enough to keep up with them, moving like a feline predator before striking. A scout finally managed to knock out the rider with a drugged arrow in the arm. The elves were panting : it was a wonder none of them had been hurt in the process.  
They didn't waste time and decided to bring the uncounscious rider and the beast to their lord as fast as possible with the corpse of the merchant.

"This is just a child." Commented Erestor, as he saw the party coming back with their catch.  
Elrond frowned but nodded silently : it was effectively a human teenager. The hood had been lifted, revelating a female teenager with a very pale skin and red hair. The clothes she was wearing were fitting her form, made for allowing movement, in the same tones as her crooked hood with a large leather belt on the hips, holding a light sword in place. Fur was wrapped around her shoulders under the coat to keep warm and the most curious were the two leather gauntlets where two blades were hidden. A strange mecanism was present in those gauntlets. Did those things had a special use ? Maybe linked with the blades ?  
"Put her into the dungeons." Decided the elven lord. "She may be a child but she still killed a man on our borders. I will interrogate her when she wakes up."

The dungeons were cold but this wasn't sufficient to make the locked up rider talk. Elrond and Erestor asked questions after questions : she never made her voice heard, sitting still against the furthest wall and clutching her coat around her. Erestor suggested to wait a day or two : maybe the cold and the relative darkness would break her will to stay silent. So they waited.  
The days passed, and still not on speaking terms. The guards told Erestor she hadn't been eating the food nor drinking the given water. She just left the trays untouched. The elven lord didn't like it : a mere human could not survive more than 3 days without water. Would he have to order the guards to forcefeed their silent prisonner ? He feared he had to.

The third day, Lindir walked by himself toward the cell to see the prisonner : oh, this rider was different from the trio and their leader. He saw the untouched tray and sighed : he has heard his lord talking about this problem with Erestor. And the guards were also struggling with the hippogriff who had nearly maimed three of them in the last two days. The dungeons were cold and he saw the rider shivering against the wall. If only he could do something to help... He didn't like to see his lord displeased but watching someone locked up like this and refusing food wasn't pleasant either... He sighed and took his leave : he still had duties to attend.

A big grey hippogriff with the tall dark blue rider showed itself the fourth day. Guards were on alert, ready to strike, but the rider posture was relaxed on his beast. Glorfindel was the first to greet them with swords out : he itched for a fight since their first meeting. Elrond stepped in, followed by his assistant.  
"What brings you in my valley, Rider ?" Asked the elven lord.  
He already had an idea but he still wanted to interrogate the man.  
The rider bowed lighty and took off his hood, revelating a middle-aged man with a pale skin and long wavy dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail, cold brown eyes with golden sparks and sharp features.  
"I am here to get my kid and her hippogriff back."  
The elf froze : his kid ?  
Lindir wondered if walking away silently was still an option.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the dead merchant is not a plain and simple merchant...

**Chapter 3 : How many children exactly ?**

"This little wild cat is yours ?!" Reacted one of the guards. "How a wild one like this can come from... "  
He didn't finish his sentence but the whole crownd could easily understand : how a well-mannered man could have fathered such a wild child? Elrond watched the rider and remembered the trio.  
"Are the three other young riders yours, too ?  
-Yes. Them, and others."  
Glorfindel snorted, amused by Erestor's face. Elrond frowned and finally asked :  
"How many children do you have exactly ?"  
The rider grinned :  
"When I arrived here, They were 35 kids."  
35 ?! How many wives had he needed to build such an army ?! The man chuckled by seeing the horrified look on the elven lord's face and decided to stop joking :  
"Seriously : none of them is really mine. I am their teacher. Since we arrived here with no way to come back, I am the only adult who can take care of the bunch. I sort of adopted them."  
That was more reassuring... A little bit.  
"So, you are the one responsible for all of them ?  
-I try my best. As you can see : this is not easy to keep tracks of them. The one you are keeping was tasked to kill the merchant and I need to recuperate the key he had on his neck. This is rather urgent.  
-And why would an assassin like you need such a key ?" Sneered Erestor. "After all, you made your charge murder him on our lands.  
-The key, Mister Elf, would help me and my other team to open some underground cells full of soon to be slaves. We were tracking this man for weeks. The rest of his group is being dealt with, but the cells are not easy to open.  
-Slaves ?" Reacted Elrond shocked and disgusted by the idea of having a slave-dealer as a guest in his valley. "Do you have proof of your claims ?  
-I don't think he does, my lord." Spoke Erestor in a icy voice. "They are assassins, unworthy of your trust and your compassion."  
The rider rose an eyebrow :  
"I don't know your name, Mister Elf, but I can proove what I said."  
He opened his snatchel and grabbed of a bunch of pages, all written in the language of Men, except one in elvish, and handed them toward the nearest elf who took them without saying a word. The guard then brang them to Elrond who took them carefully.  
"I will need time to examine your proofs." He said, keeping a calm and composed face. "Will you and your ride stay here and enjoy our hospitality while I review your files ?  
-I'm sorry, Elven Lord, but I have to check on my girl at soon as possible. She has some serious health problems and I fear the stress of the capture has caused some relapse. Can someone bring me to her ?"  
Erestor disagreed but Elrond permitted the rider to visit their prisonner, but he had to be accompagnied by guards.

"Hey Girl." Caller the rider softly. "I see you haven't eaten at all. Keith is going to be really disappointed in you."  
The girl whispered something the guards couldn't understand but the adult rider chuckled :  
"I know you were scared : being in a dark cold cell takes a toll on everybody. But for now I need you to drink some water for me. Would you do that ? I will help you if you need... Good girl. Now, I will ask you to stay strong a little longer : the leader of this place is reviewing our work on your target and he has yet to decide what to do with us. Can you stay strong for me and Keith ? He is waiting for us at home and he will be fussing over you when you'll be back. You know how he is. Alright, I will wait with you here."  
When one of the guards checked the cells, he saw the adult rider sitting on the ground, back against the wall. On his laps, the young prisonner was curled into a ball, partially hidden by the dark blue coat covering their body. The man was holding her against his body and was humming some unknown melody.  
When his eyes met the guard's, he slowly put a gloved finger to his lips in a silencing gesture. The guard nodded and took back his standing position.

"A slave ring ?!"  
The papers were clear : towns, where and how many people had been captured, number of people shipped, how many survived the shipping, how many died, how many were sold and where they were sold. Humans, hobbits, even one female dwarf ! They could see the price those poor souls had been sold and their use : most women were sold to brothel and rich men to serve as sex slaves, pretty men as well. The others were used for labor or military purposes.  
Erestor felt sick just by reading the documents and his lord wasn't looking any better. They had managed to not let their innocent Lindir see the documents by sending him to fetch some strong tea.  
"We let a slave ring master in our home..." Shuddered the advisor. "What if he decided to capture one of our staff, or civilian ? Or even the children..."  
He was angry at the riders for murdering this man on their lands, but now he was angrier because he now wanted to kill this man himself. Elrond had the same cold murderous look on his face.  
"This... man had been killed swiftly." Remembered the lord. "I examined the body : only one wound at the neck. His death had been quick. But the ones he enslaved suffered much more..."  
Erestor agreed : the merchant never deserved such a quick death, he should have suffered more.  
Elrond massaged his forehead and sighed :  
"Tell the guards to liberate the young rider and her beast. Damian Tergarien was a criminal, and should he had been found out here, I would have ordered imprisonment and his execution.  
-My lord...  
-They can leave. But make sure they know the limits on our borders : I don't want another murder on our lands. If they do this, only out of our borders."  
Erestor understood : the elvenlord didn't approve of the method but he understood why it was done : such a man had probably allies who could keep him out of prison. The riders simply eliminated the problem and were now hunting the other members of the slave ring.

The advisor informed the guards and ask them to give the papers back to the adult rider : they didn't need to keep them. He even asked for a map of the Middle-Earth to be given to them : they needed to know where to NOT murder people !  
...  
Maybe Erestor should add some red lining on the map just to be sure...  
He decided to do it for good measure...

Elrond added the dead merchant's key to the package : at least this would help to save people. He watched his advisor adding red markings on a spare map and had to refrain an amused smile on his antics : the hidden valley of Imladris had been circled in red, the Lothorien was being circled too.  
He remembered he had to warn lady Galadriel on the riders'existence... Maybe the king Thranduil too ? Would they hunt in Mirkwood ? This was quite far away, even with flying trained hippogriffs.  
"My lord." Called a guard."We can't approach the beast ! It keeps charging at us."  
This day was going to be really long...

The adult rider chuckled when he saw the guards litteraly fleeing the angry sand-colored hippogriff. He could tell the griff had been feed and watered but it seemend no elf here knew how to approach properly this mighty beast.  
"Everyone step back." He ordered calmly. "Sand Rose is not on a good mood and her claws can cut an arm in two. Believe me : I saw her doing this on a goblin, and it wasn't pretty. Hey Girl ! How are you ?"  
He bowed deeply in front of the beast who stared at him with her intense gaze. He didn't move from his bowed position until the creature huffed and bowed back with elegance.  
The elves were stunned : bowing to a hippogriff ?! And it was bowing back ?! What the...

Elrond sipped his tea as he watched the scene from his balcony : bowing to a hippogriff was the only way to approach ? No wonder the elves had never found out : who was crazy enough to bow to a beast with sharp claws and beak ? He saw the adult rider lead the sand-colored hippogriff toward the big grey one. The young rider was settled on the grey, her stance was weak and she didn't seem fit for a ride. The elvenlord felt guilt as he didn't propose to help the rider to recover a bit before leaving but the adult was determined to leave as soon as possible with his youngling.  
His advisor walked toward the rider and gave him a leather bag full of the files, the map and the key from the merchant. A member of the staff proposed some fruits for the ride but the rider politely declined. Then he mounted the grey hippogriff, just behind his charge and whistled sharply, making the beasts take flight.

Well, that day hadn't been that bad... Maybe he should seriously think about opening some diplomatic relations with the riders : if they were hunting criminals or maybe taking contracts, it would still be useful to count them as allies and have a non-agression pact between them and the inhabitants of Ilmadris... Now, if he could convince Lindir to play his harp near him, the evening would start on a perfect note.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of the Five Armies has some unwanted repercussions.

** Chapter 4 : The aerial battle **

Fall was slowly but surely letting winter take its place as the days and nights were getting colder and the trees loosing all their leaves, revelating their bare trunk and branches.  
The elven scouts still reported the riders'presence near the borders to their lord, but nothing had been worrying with them : no one had been attacked and the orcs were now leaving this area alone. It seemed that the orcs had finally started to understand that between the elves and the riders, the best was to NOT cross the zone.  
No one had been assassinated since the merchant who had been found out as a slave-ring leader and Elrond was pretty glad by the relative peace in the valley. Having to ride toward Gol-Guldur to fight murderous wraths and watching his mother-in-law banning a mere shadow of Sauron was enough for him to want to spend the next decade in quiet.  
Maybe the riders and the elves of Imladris could cohabit after all... The riders just needed to know their exact borders and since then, no problem had been reported. Even Erestor had been happy with the outcome and that was something.  
Only Glorfindel was bored : those riders seemed to be good fighters, he wanted to spar with them and enjoy some novelty. A shame they weren't coming to the city... At least he could still speculate with Erestor on how long it would take Elrond and Lindir to finally get together... The gamblers could see all the signs but those two were completly hopeless. And Glorfindel was forbidden to intervene by Erestor, knowing he would do something brash. No, they would wait, even if they needed to wait until the fourth or fifth age to see it happen... The blond elf wanted it to happen as soon as possible, just to not lose his bet.

Winter was now fully here, with snow covering the valley and the city. Everyone was enjoying the calm and the warm fires in the halls until an alarm horn resonnated.  
A large flock of giant black bats were flying toward the valley, maybe survivors of the Battle of the Five Armies who had shaken the Lonely Mountain.  
Elrond ordered the civilians to stay safe inside the buildings, and Glorfindel took command of the soldiers. They had to protect the valley !  
The archers fought bravely but those beasts needed more than arrows to get killed, so they did their best to shoot the wings until they couldn't fly and fall on the ground to be killed by the guards armed with spears and swords.  
Elrond watched the scene from the large outdoor patio where he was standing with his sword in hands. Those beasts... He couldn't believe those blasted monsters were here to attack his people !  
A sharp whistle made him turn around and look up : the riders ?  
Yes, it was them !  
He recognised the large grey hippogriff with the dark blue man on its back. Behind him, flying in a "V" formation were following twenty hippogriffs, all saddled and mounted with people wearing different hoods hiding their face.  
The leader whistled again and made a sharp gesture. Then, all of the hyppogriffs broke their formation and charged the bats. The elf lord saw the trio flying together and working in team to shoot down one of the bat before attacking another.  
"THAT'S CHEATING !!" Yelled Glorfindel somewhere on the grounds.  
Wings flapped behind Elrond and he turned around just to see the blue leader dismount his ride and walking to him.  
"We saw the beasts from our village and we assumed you could use the help, Elvenlord.  
-Imladris will be in your debt for the assistance.  
-What ? No : no debt. Let's say I just don't want those bats to fly around my village and threatening the kids. No need for debts."  
The elven lord smirked :  
"Yes, if this is just a matter of protecting your younglings, I guess we have some common grounds here.  
-Exactly. Now, let's show those giants bats what we are made of."  
Elrond rose an eyebrow as he watched the man running toward a wall and climbing up it swiftly until he got on the roof. There, he armed his bow and started to aim but one of the bats crashed on him. The beast was hurt but still had will to fight and kill. The elven lord saw the man fighting to free himself and ran toward them. He climbed up the wall easily and ran toward them and killed the bats by stabbing it in the skull. Then he pushed the monster away and extended a hand :  
"I can't have you dying on my watch, Rider."  
The man grinned and took the hand :  
"Where would be the fun in that ? And call me Matthew. After all, we are fighting together today, mister Elven lord.  
-Then you may call me Elrond. I would like to do some diplomatic exchanges with you and your tribe. Maybe we should start them after this battle ?  
-No problem for me.  
-Good."  
They charged at the second bats crashing on the roof.

Glorfindel huffed when he saw the trio flying. The white rider spotted him and made a hand gesture to the other two who nodded and changed directions, the black one approaching him and landing next to him :  
"Want a ride ? Those bats won't kill themselves, you know ?"  
The blond elf grinned and mounted behind the female rider. Time to show them who was the best here !  
He watched his archers and the riders working together to bring the bats down but this wasn't easy at all : the leather or their wings was thick and they needed to shoot many times before it would work.  
The black rider shot a last arrow and spoke :  
"Well, arrow doesn't work. Let's step up the game."  
She crounched on the saddle and jumped from her flying ride, hidden blades unsheated from the gauntlets and she landed on a bat, stabbing the beast behind the skull with her blades. The bat screeched and lose altitude. The stretched wings slowed the fall down enough for her to whistle and get caught by another rider who helped her to get back on a flying hippogriff. The blond elf watched them in awe and grinned again : he should do better than that !  
He let himself fall from the hippogriff, drew his sword and landed on a bat below him, stabbing it in the heart with his blade. The beast fell and he jumped toward another just to slice its throat before being caught by the white rider who helped him to sit on the albino mount.  
"Three bats over there ! Let's take them down before my lord and your adoptive dad get them !"  
The rider laughed :  
"We can't have that !"  
This one was definitly male and he was grinning as he was arming his bow :  
"The name is Erwann, and the 'griff is Ghost.  
-Mine is Glorfindel. Just drop me a little bit higher and I shall do those three in a single blow.  
-No problem, I'll catch you later."  
The elf chuckled : finally someone to keep up with him !

A team of five riders, all covered by blue-grey colored hoods with white markings and flying on three brown hippogriffs, spotted a smaller group of elven guards having problems with six bats. They leaded theirs mounts to hover close to the ground and two of them dismounted and started to run toward the group. One of the bats was trying to flying away with one elf in its back paws but this one was gripping the barrier the best he could to not be taken.  
"Get off the way !!" Yelled one the running riders  
The guards moved by reflex and he jumped over the stone barrier, ran over the poor guard still holding for his dear life and pounced at the bat to stab it in the chest while his teammate was trying to pull the guard to safety. The bat let go of its prey and fell backward, the hooded rider tried to jump back toward the barrier but missed. He stretched his hands trying to grip something else than thin air to save himself. A spear found its way and he managed to catch it, panting heavily. At the other end of the spear were standing two elven guards as two others were helping his teammate to shift their fellow guard back on the safer side of the barrier.  
"Thanks for the saving, guys." He managed to say with a low baritone voice. "Now, if you could not let me hang like this..."  
The two guards exchanged a brief glance before slowing walking backward and moving the spear so the rider could stand safely on the stone grounds.

It took them hours and a lot of team efforts but everyone managed to fight off the bats, killing most of them in the process. The elves as the riders were all more of less exhausted and injured. Still on their roof, surrounded by dozens of bat corpses, Elrond and Matthew were panting and the rider had his hands on knees to get his breathing back.  
"I will not do this again. I hope this is not a common thing here or I will relocate the kids somewhere else !"  
Elrond rose an eyebrow and smiled gently :  
"I assure you the valley is peaceful most of the time, except for the occasionnal pack of orcs. Those Gundabad Bats are some survivors from the battle of Erebor. I guess they fled the battlefield and flought here to find some new nesting grounds away from harm.  
-Too bad we don't want giant bats here then...  
-Indeed..."

Despite their injuries, the riders refused to be tended by Imladris healers and prefered to fly back directly toward their village : something about being late and not wanting to deal with "angry Keith". Matthew counted the members of his flock and frowned :  
"Garreth is missing. Okay kids, go back home. Keith is probably waiting for you. Has anyone seen Garreth ? Where was he last time he was seen ?"  
Erwann rose an hand :  
"He wanted to go solo on a group of bats and shot at Kathie and me to keep us away. Last time we saw him, he was flying near the falls."  
The five grey-blue riders nodded and one of them added :  
"He told us to fuck off when we asked if he needed help."  
Matthew pinched his nose bridge, sighed and spoke again :  
"I see. Well, go back home. I will search after him."

The elves thankfully helped but they only found a dead pitch black hyppogriff floating on the river, wearing to many claw and bite marks and the wings were broken, probably from the fall. The rider was nowhere to be found near the beast.  
Matthew continued to scout the river for hours until dawn where he found a broken body wearing a black and red hood. It was Garreth ! The scouts warned the elvenlord who feared a set-back into the relation between his city and the tribe. He arrived as fast as he could, only to see the dark blue rider crying and holding the younger one against his chest. He walked slowly toward them and saw the state of the dead rider : the corpse was clawed and the face and neck, the chest wasn't in a better state and many bones were broken.  
"I am sorry for your loss." He simply stated.  
Matthew sniffed sadly and new tears fell down his cheeks :  
"I always told him to not play solo on things like this. He never listened... The others were never good enough in his eyes... -he bit back a sob- And look at the result !"  
Elrond listened to his rants and cries until his voice got hoarse, and tried offering comfort by his mere presence. The loss of a child had always been tragic. Finally, a physically and mentally exhausted rider stood up with the child in his arms.  
"I have to bring him back to the village... and to burry him with the others..."  
No elf wanted to let the man fly alone on his hyppogriff in this state but they understood the need : the tribe had to grieve the loss of a fellow rider, even a disagreable one.

Elrond watched in sadness the man flying away with his precious cargo. Imladris had lost a few members as well and they had their own deads to mourn at. He turned around and walked back to help the other healers with the injured. The only positive note he found that day was the fact that none of the civilians had been hurt thanks to the protection of the guards. He saw Erestor lecturing Glorfindel for his brash behavior and sighed : some things never changed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 : Wings and Keith**

It tooks days for the elves to clean Imladris from the bats corpses and to discard them away so the stench would not lure predators and scavengers near the city.  
Elrond decided to wait a bit : the riders were certainly mourning the death of their fellow rider killed during the fight against the bats. The elvenlord wanted to visit and settle diplomatic relations. After all, if he remembered correctly, the village the riders has chosen as their home was still part of Imladris territory, even if the place had never been reclaimed since the orcs attack decimating the inhabitants of this little haven.  
He wondered briefly if the orcs had tried to pull the same stunt on the riders... Knowing how they hunted those creatures on sight, he could tell there was some bad blood between them. Where the elves were more onto protecting themselves and their borders, it seemed the riders were actively hunting them.  
On the bright side : no more orcs were found too close to the valley.

The scouts spotted the riders again after three weeks of wait. This time, they were playing in the snow, racing each other on hyppogriffs or horses, some were just fighting with snowballs and a few braver were actually descending some harsh hills with sledges or some strange long thin wooden planks attached to their boots.  
The only thing alerting Elrond were some strange reports about winged riders flying along the hippogriffs. What was that ?! Wings ? Weren't the riders human ? He could tell there was something off with the golden sparks in their eyes and their fighting skills but wings ? Why would they ride hippogriffs if they had wings ?  
...  
He really needed to check on them.

He decided to organize a small party so he could ride with them toward the village. Spring was slowly taking winter's place. Snowdrops were blowing under the trees and birds started to sing again. Glorfindel was riding next to him, Lindir following behind him. Why had his minstrel wanted to come with them ? This was a mystery : Lindir had refused to leave Imladris since the orcs attack in the forrest. A group of ten guards had voluntered too, something to do with a group of five hooded male riders, a bat, a spear and an avorted deadly fall.  
Elrond was happy his mother in law wasn't there : when he had warned her about the small tribe, she had simply lifted an amused eyebrow and told him she would go with him to meet them at her next visit. Even knowing how powerful Lady Galadriel was, he still wanted to test the waters first : would they be territorial ? Distrustful ? Would they attack them ? After all, as his advisor said, they were assassins...

The village itself was very small, the elves could count only twenty houses still standing. Twelve of them had been renovated and were now occupied. The walls had been fixed and cleaned. The gardens surrounding the houses were empty but there were some fruitstrees standing. A barn had been fixed too and the grounds around had been cultivated. The stables were in a good state too, divided in two buildings. One was closed, probably for the horses, the other one was left open and the hippogriffs were wandering as they pleased. A small farm was further away with chickens wandering around.  
The biggest house was in the best shape, still small compared to the homes of Imladris but it was busy with faint sounds of chatter and noises.  
One green hooded rider who was riding a small sturdy chestnut horse spotted the elves and pushed his stead to galop toward the main building in alert.  
Well, there was no need for stealth now... 

Elrond watched two men walking toward him and his party. He recognised Matthew even with his face not shadowed by his dark blue hood. The other man wasn't wearing the same type of hooded cloak, more greenish and looking like elvish. His hair was chestnut and his features sharper than usual for a man. The eyes were brown without the golden spark and...  
Wait, this one was an elf ! A beautiful sylvan elf to be more precise.

“Good Morning Lord Elrond.” Greeted Matthew. “I didn't know you were visiting today. Most of the kids are inside enjoying the fire and Keiths'stories. Want to come with us ?  
-Well, why not. Maybe I will finally meet the famous Keith. After all, he seems to be important for your younglings.”  
The sylvan elf chuckled :  
“I am Keith.”  
The elves of Imladris stayed silent for a few seconds : the silvan elf was called Keith ?! This wasn't an elven name at all !  
Matthew called a familiar trio who was busy at the horses stables and made them a gesture to come closer.  
“Here is Erwann, with the white cloak. Katherine with the black one, and Judith with the dark red one.” He explained briefly. “Hey kids, I think there is someone you know there.”  
The three hooded teens looked up and gasped :  
“Lindir !!”  
Glorfindel actually pounted, making Elrond chuckle. The elvenlord dismounted, followed by the rest of the party and placed his hand on his heart as a greeting gesture.  
“Is it how elves greet each other ?” Asked Erwann, as he was watching with his friends what the lord was doing. “Do we have to do this too ?”  
Elrond lifted an amused eyebrow : those younglings were so curious for teenagers...  
“This is a formal way of greeting.” Answered Keith. “And yes, if an elf greets you with this gesture, the best is to do the same in answer. It's a matter of basic manners.  
-Oh... Alright.”  
For a sylvan elf, this Keith seemed to be well-versed in manners... Mused Elrond who was surprised to find such an elf so far away from the Woodlands Realm.  
Poor Lindir was now being manhandled by the three riders who recognized Glorfindel in the same time and decided to drag him along toward the main building.  
“Do I need to rescue them ?” Asked Elrond to Matthew who shrugged as Keith was chatting in elvish with the guards and leading the horses toward the stables.  
“Rescue them from a bunch of teenagers who will want to ask a lot of questions and learn more about them and elves in general ? I just hope the kids won't bother you too much. Teenagers can be a handful sometimes.  
-That won't be a problem. We elves tend to like young spirits like them. Although I've learned some strange things about some of your younglings and...wings ?”  
Matthew smirked and something moved under his cloak. Elrond gasped when he saw a pair of large dark brown wings with touch of red stretching from under the thick fabric.  
“Impressive... Are they real ?”  
The rider slowly brang one of his wings closer to the elvenlord so he could touch it.  
“I even have tail feathers but that's not the thing I want to show right now. Why do you think all of us are wearing long coats ? Not just a matter of aesthetics... Nearly everyone is growing wings, except the younger teens. At the moment they hit their 17th birthday, the wings start sprouting, and then you get the feathers. Mines grew on the first day here. Not the best thing but well... New world, new things...”  
Elrond was definitly curious about the leader and his charges, and he followed him toward the main house to know more.

The building was used as a big common room, with some long wooden tables on the side and two big fireplaces warming the space. All the teens were here, talking, reading or playing cards together near the fireplaces. All of them were actually sitting on blankets and pillows, enven though they were some chairs at the tables. All of them turned their head toward the newcomers and Elrond spotted a lot of feathered wings in the lot. Some were fluffier than others. He even saw one of them flapping his wings two times before folding them neatly behind his back.  
“Here is our great hall.” Spoke Matthew, showing Elrond around. “This is the only place where you can fit all the kids at once. The doors over there lead to the kitchens. I managed to make the kids to share a common meal together at every dinner. -he was really proud of that.- It's good for strengthening the bonds between us and them. The rest of the time, they do as they want since I can't keep tracks of all of them.  
-Are they being educated ?  
-They learned how to hunt and to pick plants with Keith, who has taken the role as a healer and guardian. Everyone knows how to read, to write and to count. They like exploring. They bring back some strange things sometimes... You can see some of them on the shelves over there... They taught themselves how to grow things from the gardens by reading books and chatting with farmers. I don't worry about them on this side : they adapt easily and are always eager to learn. I pity your Lindir and the blond elf : they will have a lot of questions to answer... Or maybe not.”  
He pointed toward the biggest fireplace where they could see Glorfindel standing in front of it, his back turned from it and speaking with animation. Around him were sitting at least a dozen of teens on the floor, all of them listening to what was certainly one of his glorious tales. Lindir was sitting among them, surrounded by the trio, and he was more relaxed than earlier and chatting with hushed tones.

Elrond learned a lot about the riders that day. The first thing being the fact that they weren't from this world originally. As Matthew explained, and Elrond could feel the truth coming from the winged man, him and his female coworker were going on a fieldtrip with the class of originally 35 teens when they had nearly been killed on the road. The next thing Matthew had known about this, it was the fact that he, his fellow teacher and the whole group of teens had found themselves stranded here with no way of knowing where they were and why.  
So there were off-worlders. Something rare but the Valar tended to bring off-worlders sometimes. The reasons had never been exactly known but the common ground was the fact that the newcomers were going to be killed in their homeworld. Sadly, most of the off-worlders never lasted long : there was always an orc or a pissed dwarf/man soldier to kill them.

He saw Keith entering the Hall with the guards, still chatting and showing them around. As Matthew had confirmed : Keith wasn't the elf's real name. The sylvan elf had refused to let his name known : something with bad memories attached to it. The only thing the man knew that was he had escaped from the Woodland Realm after being imprisonned for some crime he didn't commit. The kids had found him by accident and the elf had decided to stay around and to adopt them. The name “Keith” had been given by the teens, and he was only responding to this name since.  
Keith had actually spent countless hours with the younglings, teaching them how to live in the wild, how to hunt, which wild plants were edible or not, how to fight and to protect themselves from orcs or people with not so good intentions. And since the elf had exiled himself from his home, Matthew had accepted him with open arms.

The female teacher had been killed on the first night after his arrival in the group, along with three of the teens, killed by a pack of orcs. Well, that explained why the tribe was so keen on hunting orcs... 

When Elrond asked about the hidden blades, Matthew chuckled : those weapons were from a group of fictionnal characters from their world who were assassins and fighting for the freedom of Men. Apparently, this thing was quite popular within the class and as they were lost in a new world, the teens had decided to keep the Credo as an anchor and to be as good as their beloved assassins.  
“Actually, the dwarves managed to build the weapons in exchange of services. We even got training gauntlets. Everyone in the village is a master of those weapons, except Keith, but Keith knows how to deal with the hidden blades and he can protect himself easily.  
-What sort of services had been asked by the dwarves ?” Asked Elrond. “What would the dwarrow require from a stranded group of humans ?  
-Actually, they require a lot : they are our best customers actually. Many contracts had been signed with them.  
-What type of contract ?  
-Some targets to eliminate, an area to scout, a group to accompany for protection. The only time I refused was when one named Thorin wanted me and the kids to slay elves in retalation for something I didn't fully understand. Something with a dragon and an elvenking not helping... He got angry because I told him it was against our policy to kill elves and tried to cut my head off my shoulders. That was fun... I hope this guy had let go his thirst for revenge against elves, this can't be good on long-lasting terms...”  
Elrond lifted an eyebrow : Thorin had never let go of his hate against his people. He took his hate and bitterness with him to the grave as far as Elrond knew.  
“No attacking elves, then ?” He wondered quietly, so the dark blue leader with hawk-like wings could confirm.  
And he did :  
“Well, as far as I know : your people has done nothing nefarious lately. Why would we attack you ?  
-I don't know. Some men would ask for my blood for the fact that I locked one of your charges last autumn.  
-We killed one of your guests on your borders. And you let Melody free after my visit. I have litteraly nothing against you.”  
Matthew stopped talking and watched over the fireplaces. The elvenlord followed and bit back an amused smirk : his sweet Lindir was actually bundled up with the teens under a pair of wings : one was as black as a raven, belonging to Erwann, the other had the same colors as a female kestrel, belonging to Katherine. Judith was actually checking her own eagle-owl-like wings, looking for any feather out of place. His attendant looked fine and was admiring some stray long feathers of different colorings in his hands. Where did he get them ?  
“Do you use the wings to fly ?” Required Elrond as he was observing his songbird collect feathers from the trio of teens and the neighboring ones with more colorful wings.  
“Only on short distances for now. We need to build our strenght and stamina first. The hippogriffs are a great help for travelling or fighting. Our wings are not useful for fighting, yet : we need to work this out. We tend to tie our wings against our back before leaving the village : it's safer like this. People would freak out if they see us with wings... We are weird enough for them with just riding hippogriffs.”  
Elrond nodded : he was familiar with the distrust he and elves in general could receive from men and dwarves. Some winged people would not get a different treatment. He watched Glorfindel interacting with the youngs : the blond elf was having the time of his life, surrounded by curious young minds with fluffy wings for most of them.  
Maybe next time he would bring Erestor... His advisor was a mine of knowledges and history lessons. No doubt he would be grumpy at first, but maybe – Maybe – he would apreciate the audience.  
...  
Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should Elrond bring Erestor to the village ? Would the grumpy advisor survive the encounter with curious teens with fluffy wings ?


	6. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The elves of Imladris return from the festivities and some discover that gifts had been left for them by their winged neighbors.

**Bonus : Yule :**

Imladris was busy celebrating Yule. The whole Valley inhabitants had done their best to decorate the place and sharing joy, resulting in a whole happy and beautiful event.  
The festivities lasted until the early morning hours, with the promise to meet again after a few hours of rest. Imladris wasn't like Mirkwood where the elves could party for an entire week without sleeping (savages...). No, they were more civilized and reasonnable than their distant sylvan cousins.

A few elves got a surprise when coming back to their rooms : someone had put something on their desk ! Who did this ? And why ? Presents were usually shared during the festivities, not hidden in the rooms waiting to be opened.

Glorfindel opened a box warily, only to find a softly-glowing quartz cristal and a letter telling him it had been found during an exploration of a mine by the winged assassins not so far away from the Valley. Only negative point, it was infested by goblins but the whole village was working on "cleaning" the place. This rock was pretty ! He found a big golden flight feather in the bottom of the box and smiled : he definitly liked the new neighbors, and this feather was going to decorate his quartiers, along with the glowing cristal. He still wondered how the winged assassins had managed to enter the Valley and Imladris without being spotten... He would need to check that with the guards first thing tomorrow, just to be sure.

Erestor found a roll of thin leather on his desk. He eyed it for a few seconds : who put that on HIS desk ? Was it a joke from the twins ? If it was, he was going to tear them a new one... Then he found some down feathers on the floor. Feathers... No bird from Imladris had feathers of this size... But he knew about the feathered assassins neighbors Elrond was actually trying to tame... How did those featherbrains managed to enter his room ?! Where were the guards ? Weren't they supposed to guard the city ? He huffed and grabbed the leather roll, ready to throw it into the fire but the leather unrolled itself in his move and a dozen of long feathers fell lazily on the floor. Wing feathers, in perfect shape... Those could make some beautiful quills. He sighed : it would be a waste to throw them into the fire. He picked them up and put them on his desk : at least he would have a stock of spare quills even with the staff keeping stealing his own... 

Lindir had been too sleepy to care for what could be sitting on his desk when he walked in his quartiers. The exhausted minstrel just dragged himself toward his bed and fell dead asleep on it. He woke up a few hours later, covered by a blanket to keep him warm and a small package on the foot of his bed. Curious, he watched the thing, trying to understand how it had gotten here with his still sleepy brain, then he stretched his arm to grab the thing : it was a small wooden crate, full of pretty round rocks shaped like eggs and colorful tail feathers he could use to decorate his room and to put in his hair to tie it or just to make himself pretty. He gushed over the feathers, trying to choose one he could put in his hair after readying himself but he couldn't make his choice for now. Finally, he decided he was still too tired and went back to sleep, a small happy smile on his lips.

Elrond lifted an eyebrow when he entered his chambers : what was that ? Where did it come from ?  
He walked toward the wooden crate and lifted the top warily : if that was a prank from his sons...  
No, it wasn't. He frowned and stretched an arm to reach something inside and retrieved... a salt-shaker ? What the... He looked closely : that thing was from his house. He looked inside the crate : candle handlers, glasses, cutlery... All of this was from his house !  
He finally found a small letter inside and took it :

_Lord Elrond,_

_The kids found those items while exploring a goblins-infested mine nearby (well... not so infested now...) and Keith told us they were probably from your city so we decided to bring everything back.  
It took several trips but I think they have found everything elvish from the mines, even if they managed to bring back another dagger yesterday (it's in the crate).  
If they find something else what might be from your people, we will bring it to you._

_Happy Yuletide to you and your Valley._

_Matthew_

_Ps : don't be harsh to the guards, they actually helped me and the kids to bring the stuff without being noticed and they made sure we left without further notice._

Elrond lifted an eyebrow and looked around in his room until he spotted a dark brown feather near the entrance of his balcony. This one should have fallen when the leader of the winged assassins had taken flight, or maybe when he had come here to deposit the heavy crate. 

The guards, finally relieved from duty, actually enjoyed the basket full of pastries delivered by their flying neighbors. They knew they now risked being chewed down by Erestor and/or the lord Elrond himself, but helping the birds delivering the gifts without being spotted had been priceless and highly amusing.  
They actually hoped their neighbors would put the same stunt next year, just for them to not be bored during the festivities when they had to stand still, watching borders no one was stupid enough to approach... if they survived the next to be coming Lecture of Erestor...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matthew meets Galadriel and Haldir is being a creep.

**Chapter 6 : Galadriel and the creepy Marchwarden**

Summoning Matthew and a few of his younglings had been an easy feat : a simple letter delivered by one of his mounted messengers, a young elf named Palantir. The messenger had come back a few hours later, a bit ruffled but with a positive answer from the winged leader.  
Apparently, having an unknown rider galoping at full speed toward the village had scared the kids and sent Keith into his protective mode and the poor young Palantir had been spilled from his horse by an angry sylvan elf before he had managed to tell who he was and why. Then, Keith has huffed, helped him up and apologised only because Matthew had been watching him with a disapproving glare while having a dozens of teenagers hundled under his wings in fear.  
That behavior actually interrested the elf lord who wanted to see it with his own eyes but he had already two things to do before studying his winged neighbors'behaviours : arranging a meeting between his mother-in-law and Matthew, and managing to get some of his neighbors into the healing chambers so he and the other healers of Imladris could examine them and have a better understanding of their anatomy.  
Galadriel was actually in his palace with her delegation, smiling like she was knowing something while watching Elrond trying to reassure his beloved attendant who had been baldy startled by Haldir : the Marchwarden was too stealthy for the others'good and Lindir hadn't been the first to be startled just for today.

As expected, the winged riders showed themselves at Imladris by riding their hippogriffs. Elrond recognised Matthew and the adventurous trio, the five other riders were unknown to him but some of his guards greeted them with smiles. The elf lord walked toward the newcomers and smiled :  
"When I asked for a few of your younglings, I didn't expected that much of them."  
Matthew shrugged :  
"The quintet other there made friends with your guards, they wanted to say hello. Don't worry : you won't see much of them."  
He dismounted and took off a long leather belt who had been tighly tied to him. Immediatly, something shifted under his coat and Elrond watched the dark brown wings strechting a little bit before flapping back behind their owner's back. The elf spotted the tail feathers and remarked something off with the man's boots. Matthew smirked :  
"Why do you think we wear long cloaks ?"  
Instead of boots, Matthew was wearing leather bands beautifully sewed together, partially hiding the fierce talons he was using as feet.  
"Yes, we are part-birds." Said Erwann laughing and showing off his black feathers under his white coat and his dark bird feet with shorter claws than the adult.  
"I see..." Mused Elrond.  
He really needed to examine them with the other healers. Maybe the trio could help while he would have his meeting and...  
A startled scream coming from Judith and Katherine made everyone jump and Elrond saw Haldir creepily standing close to the winged teens and intensely staring at them. Erwann flinched at the blond elf and the trio actually ran to hide under Matthew's wings, who sighed and let them use his large wings to hide from the scary one.  
"No comment." He said as the elf lord was watching with an amused smile. "They hide under wings when scared or distressed and if you don't have wings, it's under your coat. Prepare yourself to have young birds hiding under your own cape one day."  
Elrond would be delighted... And the guards were actually laughing at the puffed up colorful wings from their five friends who were watching Haldir suspiciously. The Marchwarden was too unsettling for the feathered folk, and his behavior wasn't helping !  
"Lady Galadriel is waiting for us in my Council Room." Chuckled the elf lord. "Will you follow me ? I guess the trio hiding under you wings can come too if we can avoid another fright..."  
Matthew looked down to under his wings where the three teens were actually having a short debate in hushed tones and lot of hands signing. Finally, the trio reached an understanding and Erwann asked if Lindir was near, so they could visit him. A guard decided to take pity on them and leaded them away from the scary elf toward the library where Lindir had been seen the last time. The attendant had certainly moved somewhere else since, but the search would occupy them long enough for the lord to get his meeting properly done.  
"Still not flying on your own ?" Asked Elrond looking at the large wings folding themselves under the coat. "I thought you were working on this part.  
-Actually, I can fly to your city, but I don't know if I would be able to fly back. I'm still training, and the kids too. The trio is better at flying since they are always outside wandering. The quintet is not bad either. You should see them working together with Keith. They managed to include the flying into fight and I admit it's quite useful. But who is the blong elf creeping on the kids ?  
-This is Haldir of Lothorien. He is part of the delegation of Lady Galadriel. You will find him a bit strange, but I assure you he means no harm. He is just so used to patrolling away from civilization that he is not really good at socializing with people.  
-Well, I hope he won't try this on Luna because she is going to make him regret his act...  
-Who is Luna ?  
-One of my girls. She is blond with grey eyes and her feathers are white and blue. She is the lone wolf, always on her own. The first one to master flying and fighting though. She is fierce and wild, don't even think on coming to her if she doesn't know you.  
-How could she know me if she doesn't let me approach ?  
-That's Luna for you. The best thing to do is to do as if she is not here when she is hiding from you.  
-How do you tame such a wild bird ?  
-Patience, understanding and a lot of crafting activities. That actually works with the whole flock : just do your thing and they will come closer to watch and ask what you are doing. They are too curious for their own good, and that doesn't get better when the wings are done growing.  
-So, just ignoring them and going on daily activities ?  
-Just that. That's Keith's method, and it worked. Now Keith is the "mama bird" of the village..."  
The elf lord chuckled : of course the sylvan elf would take the role as a parent...

Galadriel smiled when she saw the lord of Imladris walking in with the winged man. She could feel the bonds of friendship forming between these two and the way the wings and tail feathers were twitching and moving during their chatting was amusing to watch. Elrond was showing his city to Matthew on the way and they joked about bats not residing in the Valley.  
"My Lady." Greeted Elrond bowing slightly, imitated by the winged man."Here is, Matthew, the leader of the winged assassins'village. -he watched the man unfolding his wings toward the ground as he was bowing to his mother-in-law before retreating them under his coat as he was standing up again.  
"There is no need to hide your feathers here." Spoke Elrond. "Imladris is a safe place for everyone. No one will harm for you having bird features."  
Galadriel had a little knowing smile : his son-in-law wanted to see more of the winged man and the wings being visible would give the elves a better way of reading him. Like the way they puffed when he was feeling nervous under her watchful gaze. She could read him like a book : an off-worlder, thrown into an unknown world and forced to protect his young charges, dealing with the changes in his body, trying to keep himself and the younglings alive, finding shelter into an abandonned village and deciding to claim it as home for the children who needed stability to keep on going, struggling with the food, dealing with the orcs, burrying their dead, meeting the sylvan elf who took the name "Keith", meeting dwarves and starting to work for them, teaching the children how to survive and how to fight, fixing the village, nearly having a heart attack because of the children managing to tame and train hippogriffs, losing his feathers over stress because of too much responsibilities, Keith deciding to stay as a co-parent for the +20 teens, his first killing contract, the worry when the teens decided to work with him too as assassins, dealing with Keith's PSTD even if the elf wouldn't tell him exactly what had happened to him and why, getting worried when one of the youngs was missing, dealing with the teens growing their own wings and the pain associated, fighting off the bats with Elrond and loosing one of his children, and finally his worries over his relations with the elves of Imladris. So much pressure on this man... This was a wonder he managed to hold on all this time.  
"Your strenght is impressive, Winged friend." She spoke to him by using telepathy, making him flinch and grimace with the sudden intrusion. "You manage to remain strong despite all your trials."  
The wings shuddered and Matthew talked with a low and tired voice :  
"I have to. As the only adult, it is my duty to take care of the kids. And if I managed to remain strong despite everything, it's because they need me."  
The lord of Imladris frowned : the winged man was tired, physically and mentally. He was still going because the younglings needed him but the elf lord could feel the depression lurking in his mind. If the winged man stopped caring for his adoptive children, he would be doomed, and the young ones too.  
"Is your elven companion aware of your strugglings ?" He asked softly.  
Matthew nodded but said nothing. Of course, Keith was aware : elves were empathic by nature, even the sylvan elves from Mirkwood.  
A startled scream coming from somewhere near in House made Matthew jump in surprise :  
"One of yours ?" Asked Galadriel, smiling knowlingly. "I fear my Marchwarden is a bit... fascinated by your children.  
-That's not one of mine actually. This is Lindir the minstrel. -Elrond perked up, suddently worried- Either my infernal trio has found him, or your... Marchwarden has scared him."  
The elf lord sweared mentally : his poor songbird was going to be unable to play for him if he was still going to be scared like this today...  
"I heard you and your village were helping in eliminating orcs around Imladris." Spoke Galadriel, moving toward a large map of the Middle Earth. "Is there any other areas where you and your children had been doing some hunting and exploring ?"  
Matthew eyed the map, trying to recall every places when his kids had gone... He walked closer and pointed some places with a finger.  
"There is some mines nearby, in the mountains. The quintet had been kidnapped last month and I had to go in with Keith to free them. Glorfindel and his patrol had spotted us on the way and they had helped fighting off the goblins. -Elrond frowned : he hadn't been aware of this event - The plains on the west are inhabited with trolls, very dangereous at night but safe in daylight. The dwarves of the Blue Mountains are our best clients, so we are often in this area. The Shire is a beautiful place : I wanted to make the kids live here at first but the hobbits don't like wild birds and the inhabitants of Bree don't take kindly of assassins, even if we take off the most dangereous people on the request of their Mayor. Let's speak about irony there... The trio went once near the Moria, they got the scare of their life and never returned : something about a giant thing with tentacles in the water. Last time I checked, no one had tried to cross the Misty Mountains completly.  
-A matter of time ?  
-Yes, They won't be long to cross the mountains and wander on the East side.  
-Why have I not been told about the kidnapping in the mines ?" Interrogated Elrond, not happy about missing the excitement. "What happened exactly inside ?"  
Galadriel smiled knowingly and Matthew shrugged :  
"Glorfindel told me that what happened in the mines stayed in the mines. Apparently he made this rule a very long time ago but he never told us why. Maybe if you ask him..."  
The elf lord glanced as his mother-in-law : she was obviously knowing what had transpired inside the mines...  
Another shriek resonnated and Matthew jumped, wings puffed up and tense :  
"This is one of mine." He growled, his talons ticking on the wooden floor. "This time, I step in."  
He jumped out the windows and opened his large wings, glinding toward the main gardens.  
"Maybe we should follow." Mused Elrond.  
Galadriel actually chuckled :  
"We may : my Marchwarden is going to learn about protective bird-parents and which line to not cross with the chicks."  
Needless to say, seeing the stoic Haldir pined down on the ground by an angry papa-bird while a incouraging Glorfindel was hiding the winged trio, themselves hiding Linder with their wings, under his cloak and his twin sons taking bets on the outcome was something that was not seen daily in Imladris.  
"I should visit more often..."  
And Galadriel was a bit too amused by this...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7 : a point to make and a cherrytree**

If Haldir had been thrown to the ground by an angry Matthew, it was more because of the element of surprise than mere strenght : an elf could easily receive an angry winged man if he had seen him coming.  
Feeling ashamed and angry under his fall, he managed to sweep the man's legs off him and made him loose his balance. The large wings flapped and the talons nearly ripped his red coat. The winged man stepped back but held his positions between him and Glorfindel protecting the youngsters, wings threatenly stretched and feathers puffed to make him bigger. The talons were clicking on the stone floors as he was slowly circling the Marchwarden who merely rose an eyebrow.  
"Matthew !" Called Glorfindel, clearly enjoying the sight."Give me your coat ! You will need all freedom of movement against this one."  
Haldir stiffened : what ?! Elrond's Seneschal was encouraging this wild bird-man to fight him ?! He was going to show him what it was like to threaten the Marchwarden of Lothorien !  
Matthew shed off his coat and his wings now seemed bigger without their covering. Also the tail feathers were fully opened in an intimidating posture. He looked like a very angry red-tailed hawk and he was ready to fight for his kids'safety : if this creep was not going to leave the chicks alone, he was going to make him.   
"Twelve on the bird." Whispered Elladan to his brother.  
"You're on." Replied Elrohir, grinning.  
Lindir watched with worried eyes : his lord didn't seem to want to stop the fight. Why ? Why would his lord let the leader of the assassin's tribe fight the Marchwarden ? This was going to be a bloodbath ! The winged man would end up killed ! He shuddered as he felt the wings of the three teens shaking : it was certainly the first time for them to see their adoptive dad that furious, and they were scared. Haldir was too confident in his skills to be intimidated and it would be a miracle for a mortal to win against him.  
"You know," Spoke Elrond to Galadriel in a low voice. "You just have to say a word to stop the fight.  
-As you do." Replied the Lady of Lothorien. "But I would rather enjoy the scene and let them blow some steam off.  
-I agree, but no drawing blood.  
-Let them fight, Elrond : your feathered friend has a point to make and my Marchwarden needs to understand boundaries a little more."  
The elf lord wasn't happy on the idea of letting those two tear each other apart but if his mother-in-law said it was necessary, he would try and be patient. And step in before they would kill each other.

The two fighters charged and Haldir gripped one of the wings and used to throw Matthew to the nearest wall. The feathered man managed to free his appendage, losing some feathers in the process, and strongly kicked the elf in the stomach. The talons made sparks as they briefly clawed against the armor. Haldir fell on the ground and hissed under the shock. That bird just dared to kick him !  
Matthew jumped, wings fully deployed and landed on the elf's torso, the talons of his left foot were now holding the elf by the throat and he screamed at the downed Marchwarden :  
"Stop scaring my kids !!"  
The elf stopped struggling : he scared them ?! And this adult bird was their parent. Alright : he didn't want to anger a father bird and to get his eyes clawed out in the process. Birds tended to do nasty stuff when protecting their chicks. He showed his hand in surrender and Elrond had to step in so Matthew would release Lothorien elf.  
"Matthew, I think this is enough : you made your point. Now, I need you with me in the healing chambers.  
-The healing chambers ? I'm not hurt.  
-I know, but I want to learn more about your anatomy. That way, if you or one of your younglings gets injured, my hearlers and me will know how to treat your kind. I need to examine your wings – he eyed the tail feathers and saw that one had been broken by the fight-, to learn how to care of your feathers, and to examine your talons."  
Matthew shifted uncomfortably, still perched on Haldir, and finally released the Marchwarden to follow the elven lord. Galadriel smiled as Elrond's twins were arguing about the duration of the fight – it had been too short for their appreciation - . Glorfindel waited a bit before lifting his cape so the winged teens could leave with Lindir, walked toward the downed elf and offered a hand :  
"I told you to not sneak on the birds." He grinned. "Their father is a bit protective of them."  
Haldir sighed and took the hand to get up, grimacing as he felt the pain on his back :  
"I admit I thought you were joking at first about their wings. But I never thought the wings would add bird-like behaviors like this. Further observations will be needed.  
-Don't worry about that : we are already studying them in Imladris. Do you need to see a healer ?  
-I will be fine. Besides, I don't think I want to meet the adult birdman a second time this soon : he is probably still angry at me.  
-Just leave his children alone and you will be fine.  
-How many does he have ?  
-At least around twenty-five. We have never seen all of them at once. There is always a few wandering somewhere. He can't keep track of all of them. Most of the time, he knows about the places they explored only if they tell him when they are back.  
-And if they don't come back ?  
-He goes on the search and don't even think he will rest until all of his missing kids are found. Trust me, I helped him once when the quintet had been abducted by goblins. I've nerver laughed so much while fighting goblins in the mines. Angry Ada Bird is something.  
-Nearly as bad as the King Thranduil...  
-Shht, never say his name ! If you say his name, he will appear.  
-What the... Are you still on that stupid joke ?"

The quintet was laughing with the guards, too happy to spend some time with the elves. Apparently there was some interresting bets on Imladris and most of them were about matchmaking.  
So, people shiped the dark and grumpy Erestor with the fearless and shiny Glorfindel ? Wow, let's talk about opposites attrack each other here ! And some were shiping the elven lord with his faithful attendant ? Well... Why not ? Lindir seemed enamoured enough by his lord... Maybe they could get the help of the trio in this matchmaking process.  
There was a lot of plotting to do there...  
The guards grinned : finally someone bold enough to enventually help with the matchmaking !  
They outright laughed when the quintet left running and wings flapping to find their other winged friends.

Elrond frowned : he has been leading Matthew toward the Healing Chambers when he saw the five younglings running in the corridors without spotting the two adults, talons clicking on the wooden floors and their colorful wings litteraly flapping to make them go faster. He watched them disappear into another corridor and turned around to see an higly-amused Matthew.  
"I hope no one in your city is allergic to feathers."  
He looked at the corridor when the kids had come from and understood : down feathers everywhere on the way.  
"Moulting season is starting early.  
-You have a moulting season ?  
-Not really, we just moult once per year. Most of us do it during spring and fall though. Sickness, stress and depression can also provoke a moult, but it's harder to grow the feathers back. Orcish poison also make lose feathers.  
-You have been poisonned by orcish weapons ?! When ?  
-Two years ago. Keith healed me. And the orcs didn't survive Angry Keith. A shame I have no memory on those three days... I can only trust the stories told by the kids about that.  
-Speaking of your children...  
-You have Garrett with the blue wings and tail feathers. The one with green and blue feathers is Jonathan. Blue and yellow feathers is Drew. Green wings and feathers is Gregory. Red, green and blue wings and feathers is Dante. That's the quintet. They are a unit : if you see one, the four others are near."  
That was good to know. It seemed the younglings were forming some smaller flocks within themselves... Interresting.   
They finally arrived to the Healing Wing. Matthew was looking around with curiosity : the place was quieter than the rest of the city and much sober. The sound of his talons on the floors were resonnating between the walls of the corridors and it made him felt uneasy : he was so used to lively ambiances that he could nearly not bear total silence. His wings shifted in a nervous gesture. He still followed the elven lord until he opened a wooden door and gestued him to enter :  
"My office here." Explained Elrond. "Come in."  
Matthew walked with caution, his talons tapping softly on the floors, and looked around : a spacious room, with a desk, an examination table who made him puff his wings a little, two chairs and shelves full of books and herbs kept in glasses. No operating table, no operating stuff, no torture device. He forced himself to relax : the elven lord wasn't here to hurt him. If he had wanted, he would have done that a long time ago.  
"I prefer to warn you : if you poke we with a needle, I will fly away immediatly.  
-Scared of needles ?  
-More scared of what could be injected with."  
Elrond smiled :  
"There is no needle in this room, I assure you. Now sit on this table and let me."  
The elf spent a long time manipulating the wings, stretching one fully to study the feathers and the positions of the bones, folding it back, feeling the muscles and articulations beneath the feathers and he even plucked one feather to test the sensibility. It turned out plucking a feather without warning could be really painful when it wasn't loose.  
The back was muscular as expected for someone a pair of wings on his back, even if Matthew told him that one of the kids had a weaker body than the others and thus couldn't even lift her own wings to fly. She just wasn't strong enough.  
The talons interested him and he tried to judge their strenght just by their look. Those claws were sharp enough to pierce leather, but someone wearing a metal armor would be safe from them. Could he lift someone from the ground ? Were the wings even strong enough for such a feat ?  
"Elrond ? What's exactly the problem between dwarves and elves ?  
-Why such a question ?  
-Well, Thorin wanted me and the kids to slaugther elves but his explanations weren't clear. And when I asked Keith, he refused to answer. I dropped the subject but I never found out why.  
-About Thorin : it is a long story between the Woodelves and dwarves from Erebor. Imladrian elves never had problem with the dwarrow. Even I don't know the full extent of it but there are some facts to know. Thorin's grandfather, Thrain, was really greedy, even for a dwarf. He stole jewels who belonged to the dead wife of the elvenking, Thranduil...  
-Wait, if there is an elvenking, are you and the lady Galadriel under his orders ?  
-He is the king of the woodland realm but not mine and certainly not Galadriel's." Muttered the elven lord."Thrain stole the jewels and wanted to make Thranduil pay a good price to get them back.  
-He stole it and expected a ransom ?  
-He did. He and Thranduil had a harsh disagreement about the payment and the jewels stayed in Erebor. Weeks later, Smaug the dragon invaded the mountain and burned everything on his path. Thorin and a few of his kind managed to escape but his grandfather died along with his soldiers while trying to fight off the beast. While leaving the mountain for safety, they met Thranduil leading an army of woodelves. Thorin called the king for help but it never came. The army just walked back to Greenwood with their kind, leaving the dwarves to fend for themselves.  
-Wow, I didn't know the story between them was so bad. But there are wrongs from both sides...  
-I agree. The greed of Thrain attracted the dragon and his disagreement with Thranduil didn't help with the outcome. Sadly, Thorin never thought his grandfather had been wrong : stealing things and asking for a ransom is the way of dwarves.  
-That doesn't explain why one of my young potted trees disappeared after I angered Thorin and his group."  
Elrond froze and smirked :  
"Was it a beautiful plant ?  
-It was. A cherry tree with dark red leaves. The most beautiful of my small collection.  
-I bet the dwarves stole it for revenge.  
-They can keep it : I had seeds from the same specie. I made more of them.  
-In that case, I can said this was a poor attempt at revenge..."  
Even if Matthew was still sore about his stolen tree... Well not the plant itself, but the fact it had been stolen for a petty thing as revenge for angering a dwarf... If he ever met one of those dwarves, he would be out for blood.  
The elven lord didn't find useful to inform the bird-man that he had found the plant abandonned in a remote place and in a really bad shape when the Company had left Imladris. Now this plant was a beautiful red cherry tree, still kept in a pot but soon to be put in the gardens where it would grow bigger and stronger.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8 : the gaols of the elvenking**

Years passed. Elrond had been busy rising Estel and still working on his relationship with the winged assassins, even if the feathered leader was more a friend than the elvenking himself.

Speaking of him : Elrond thought bitterly about the prince Legolas, actually wandering somewhere with the Dunedain. The young elf still had not forgiven his father and was still refusing to come back to Mirkwood. No one would blame him thought : Thranduil was known for his temper and rumors had told he had been violent more than necessary with his younger son. Were those rumors true or not ? No one could tell but things were here : Legolas was distant and somber and no one could approach him, except the one weak winged girl who had crashed on him once while trying to fly out by the window but that was another story... Poor Anna though... At least since that incident, Legolas had gotten a friend...

Speaking of the birds, Elrond had been delighted to see that the feathered assassins were not aging once reaching adulthood. It was great for Imladrian elves to have long-lived allies : stronger bonds, stronger treaties (even if they had none actually between them because "why the hell bothering with more papers ?! I have enough with the contracts alone !" from Matthew), and stronger fronts against orcs who were now avoiding the Valley as best as they could after some numerous slaughters.  
Everyone was now flying on their own (except Anna) and still doing some contracts elsewhere. The dwarves were still the best clients, using them as scouts and security against burglars.  
Lady Galadriel had asked for their services once : when an elven outlaw had intruded Lothorien borders and committed larceny in the realm. It had taken months to track down the renegade elf and to bring him back to a royally pissed off Haldir. Last time Elrond had checked : the thief was still in Lothorien, working on redeeming himself. But this woodland elf had not been a thief by choice : he had been exiled from Mirkwood and had to resort to theft for survival. Another exiled... Only one was known for his harsh punishment : Thranduil. Elrond feared the day the elvenking and Matthew would meet : too many chances to end in a bloodbath.

Unbeknown to the elven lord, his leader friend was actually walking with the infernal trio inside the huge forrest of Mirkwood.  
"Someone reminds me WHY we accepted this quest ?" Ranted Judith. "What the hell is this place, anyway ?!  
-Well," replied Matthew, very patient with the group. "There had been reports of people disappearing in those woods and the city of Dale asked us to investigate. I've already told them to avoid the woods but apparently it's the only place where they can hunt their food. Something I doubt but we are not here for debating about the best hunting spots.  
-So, most of missing people are hunters, right ?" Asked Erwann as Katherine was actually fending off a branch. "Will you stop fighting with those trees ?! What have they done to you ?  
-They kept being stuck in my bag or coat. It's annoying." Whispered the girl. "I don't like this place. This is creepy as hell."  
Matthew could only nod as his children were uneasy around him : the forrest reeked of an unatural energy. The trees were not emitting any peaceful vibes like in Lothorien or Imladris, even Fangorn. No, those trees were evil, even the animals radiated this dark energy.  
"The whole place had been contaminated by evil, but this has been like this for a long time. We can't do anything for that. Our job is to find out what happened to the missing hunters."

Actually, there was a lot of possibilities : 

-the giant spiders : those beast nearly gave them a heart attack and a lot of feathers had been lost while fighting in the webnests but no human remains had been found. Still, spiders had been killed.  
-the orcs still infesting Dol Guldur : just speaking of them was enough to stress out everyone. Again, the wandering hords had been eliminated for caution.  
-the werewolves they had met during the night but the leader had sweared on his pack that no one had attacked any mannish hunter recently. They had been left alone since they were not agressive with the winged folk.

Matthew still felt as he was missing a point... The startled scream from Judith and the arrow who pierced his left wing was the answer : an ambush ! Woodelves !  
The birds fought bravely, using their talons and hidden blades fiercely against the woodland elves. Erwann actually managed to knock one out with his wings before being subdued by three of them. Katherine did her best and litteraly clawed one elf in the face with her talons before three soldiers jumped on her, nearly breaking one wing in the process.  
Judith, being the strongest of the trio, got injured and subdued too but not without showing hes fighting skills and harming her closest opponents.  
Matthew managed to knock out a few of his opponents, broke an archer's arm by launching him to the nearest tree trunk, nearly split someone's throat with his blade and managed to take flight with two elves gripping his legs before sending them to the nearest unfriendly tree he could find. Then he flought back to his youngs to free them, only to get jumped at by soldiers who knocked him out against a rock.

Hours later, all of them were locked in cells. His head was still hurting and he could tell that his wounds had not been tended to. He had broken many feathers during the fight and he wondered where were his charges.  
"Kids ?" He called in a strong voice.  
One guard shushed him and hit the bars of his cell with his spear to threaten him into silence.  
"Here !" Replied the faint voice of Erwann. "I'm still alive !"  
A guard sweared in elvish.  
"I'm here too !" Continued Judith's voice. "Those fuckers actually broke my arm !"  
A metallic noise indicated that a spear had hit a door to silence the winged girl.  
"Katherine ?" Called Matthew. " Kathy ? Are you okay ?"  
He heard wings shuffling and a guard this time screamed as something with talons tried to grab him from between the bars of the cell. The winged man smiled : Katherine was maybe soft-spoken but you could always count of her to make herself known if she was here or not.  
The elven guards sneered at them and spoke in elvish. None of the birds could understand everything they were saying but one word was used for them : "Crebain". Matthew remembered Keith muttering about the large agressive ravens encountered sometimes in the mountains. Were he and his kids compared to those irascibles black birds ? How unflattering...  
He waited and tried to look around as if he could spot a few men somewhere around him. No one was visible and no sound coming from some locked up prisonner could be heard, except from his kids. Were they the only ones locked there ?  
He huffed as the cell was too small for him to stretch his wings. His feathers needed to be brushed and cleaned, he needed a healer for his wounds and his kids were in need for medical attention. He looked around again : where was he exactly ?  
As no one was making a move to heal his injuries nor his kids', he decided to take action and made the most horrible shrill bird screech he could do : being part-bird had his advantages and Elrond's ears had suffered for days after hearing The Screech. The guards were now doing their best to cover their ears to dull the sound and the pain, until one had decided to open the door to silence him.  
First mistake.  
The guard was thrown backward by an angry bird who didn't need weapons to do some serious harm. He heard wings shuffling and talons hitting the doorcells as his younglings were trying to free themselves and moved. The guards were still suffering from his scream and he took full advantage of it.  
Surprisingly, Katherine had been the first to get out by herself and she had jumped on the first guard she had found, making him fall down the stairs next to her cell. She flapped her wings and leaped in the air, holding a set of keys in her hand.  
"Clever girl." Congratulated Matthew.  
Erwann got out like an bullet and screeched loudly while attacking a guard. If those elves weren't deaf at the end of this, it would be a miracle ! Judith was the last to leave her cell, carefully holding her broken left arm against her chest. Katherine used a dagger from one of the fallen guards and tore one of their capes to improvise a sling for the injured limb. Once her arm had been immobilised and tied against her chest, Judith immediatly asked for a dagger and went for blood.  
The four birds made a total chaos inside the prison, until they found a large cell with human remains inside. Some were more recent than others and the clothes were recognisable as mannish.  
"I think we've found the missing hunters." Stated Erwann while the girls were gagging from the smell.  
"I think you're right." Nodded Matthew. "Howewer, we can't help them anymore. I don't know what killed them exactly but I think I've already an idea. Poor things... Dying of thirst and hunger is not a pleasant death at all... They must have some token on them that we can bring back to Dale. Erwann, help me to search the bodies. Girls, I need you to watch over for guards. Knock them out. Injuring is permitted. Killing only if no other choice. Those elves are not the same as Imladris and Lothorien.  
-Imladris and Lothorien have healers for first." Growled Judith. "And they don't let people die in cells."  
A few minutes later, they were back on their way, trying to find an exit on this labyrinth.  
"Wait." Whispered Katherine. "Look over here."  
A young elf was standing against a wall, keeping watch. This one looked younger than the other guards they had fought earlier.  
"Can I kill him ?" Asked Judith, before being shushed by Matthew.  
"Maybe he can guide us to the outdoors ?" Proposed Erwann. "It doesn't hurt to try.  
-Alright." Sighed Matthew. "Go for it."  
The elf got jumped on by Erwann and Katherine. Stuck on the ground, by two birds with sharp talons, he didn't even try to struggle. Matthew crouched near the elf's head and decided to do things nicely :  
"Hello there. What's your name ?  
-Meludir." Came the mumbled reply from the downed guard.  
-That's a nice name. Well, my name is Matthew, and my kids here are Judith, Katherine and Erwann. We were wondering if you could guide us to the nearest exit. We want to leave this place.  
-You're not the only ones." Muttered the elf. "I want to leave too but if I do, I will be a deserter and the King will have my head.  
-You can still leave with us." Pipped Erwann. "You would not be the first elf we've adopted.  
-Let's leave this hellhole before talking about adopting an elf...

Meludir surprisingly guided them out of the gaols and through what seemed to be an underground castle. He used narrow passages without soldiers and spoke in hushed tones with the feathered group. Apparently he had a big brother living in Imladris and he was hoping to join him soon. He told them that the elvenking was feared by his people for his temper and no one actually was fool enough to cross him. The last one who did had been banished and this was the kind punishment.

Judith spotted an open window and pointed it to the group.  
"I can't fly like you." Stated the guard saddened.  
He knew the birds from his letters by his brother, letters he had burned each time in fear of being caught having a written correspondance with elves from a different realm. Seeing them in the cells had made him happy : the birds who saved his brother from the orcs ! And then he had deflatted when he had heard the king ordering the guards to lock the Crebain until death from starvation. Birds were meant to fly free...  
When they had escaped, he had decided to go with them : working as a guard in Mirkwood wasn't what he wanted to do anymore. Working under the king Thranduil's orders wasn't his call anymore. No : he wanted to go back to his brother and stay in Ilmadris.  
"I can carry you." Proposed Matthew. "It will be a hard work, but I can carry you."  
Hope filled the elf : he was going to escape with them ! By flying ! Yeah !  
Wings flapped as everyone took flight, the elf being carried on Matthew's back, his legs folded around the hips and his hands gripping the clothes on the shoulders.  
"TRAITOR !!" Screamed someone. "GUARDS !! Shoot them !!"  
Arrows started flying. The winged folk managed to pass through the window and Meludir actually winced, feeling the pain as one arrow actually got him in the back.  
"To the west !" Ordered Matthew. "We need to get to safety ! Fast !!"  
The only safe place for them was their village, and the realm of Imladris.  
"May the wind carry us."

Glorfindel found them four days later while patrolling. At first, he had been worried when he and his soldiers had spotten a bundle of feathers in the tall grass. Then he had been more worried to find an injured guard from Mirkwood who had been hailing them for help and four uncounscious familiar winged assassins.

Needless to say, Elrond wasn't impressed by the whole ordeal. And if Meludir had been able to find his big brother, the sweet and innocent Lindir, Keith hadn't been happy at all about their adventure in Mirkwood and actually threatened Matthew to chain him to the bed until he was completly recovered.  
The elf actually had to leave for Dale to bring back the tokens recovered from the underground prison. He only accepted to do it if the elven lord made sure those four idiots would be resting during his leave. The Peredhel had reassured him and watched him leave on his usual chestnut hippogriff. Then he turned back toward the winged leader and creeped closer with a risen eyebrow :  
"Now let's have a talk about your last contract and why this was a dangerous move..."  
Matthew flinched : no one wanted to be submitted to the risen eyebrow of Elrond, and the lecture who usually followed...


	10. Bonus

**What happens in the mines...**

Matthew was worried. And Matthew being worried was never good, at least in Keith's point of view.  
The sylvan elf had taken his role as the guardian of the Village of feathered assassins very seriously, even if it was his own title given by himself : none of the feathered inhabitants -all of them had wings now, after all- was aware of his statut. Yes : Keith had named himself Guardian of the Birds, Aewentirn, and he was known for his title by Imladris'soldiers, and definitly proud of his own title. After being imprisonned and self-exiled so he could keep his head on his shoulders, beind adopted by a bunch of feathered young assassins had been a nice change as he hadn't been sure he would have been accepted in another elven realm (his former king was known for his temper and for his tendencies to hold grudges for an exceptionnaly long time, even for an elf). Taking care of his new charges was relatively easy : they were pretty self-reliant when properly taught the basics of survival. The only problem was health : birds could be fragile, and having part-bird men and women meant they needed some extra cautions on certains things. He had learned it the hard way but he regretted nothing of staying with them.  
But having Matthew worried was never good for Keith, because it meant one of the younglings wasn't back at the village. Last time one hadn't come home, they had found the young winged man dead below Imladris borders, killed by giant bats.  
"Matthew ?" He called softly.  
"The quintet is not home." Stated the man, his wings shivering nervously. "They are not here. Something is wrong.  
-Maybe they are just delayed. Where were they going ?  
-They wanted to explore the paths in the Mountains. One leaded toward some mines and they wanted to know where it leaded."  
The mines ? This was bad...  
"Not the ones in Moria ?" Asked the elf carefully. "Those are highly dangerous. The trio had been scared to go near any river or lake for weeks. And I still have to accompagny them when they have to go to the river.  
-Not the Moria ones. Further north. You have to pass Imladris borders and the way is just on the eastern side."  
That wasn't far away. Keith proposed to go check together : the mines were infested with goblins and, even knowing all of his birds were trained to fight and kill, a large number of those pests could easily overwelm the most seasoned warriors.  
And that's how the sylvan elf found himself riding one of his favorites horses, a chestnut mare with a bad attitude but fast legs, called Nutsy by the kids. He would not debate on the name but at least the horse was good.  
Matthew was flying, carried by the wind. His sharp eyes were scanning their surroundings and he spotted a ridden patrols.  
Keith's elven eyes saw them too : it was a patrol from Imladris. The patrol changed its course and met them :  
"I knew it wasn't a hawk !" Chuckled Glorfindel, leading the others soldiers. "It's rare to see you outside of your domain, Aewentirn. What's bring you here ? Have you finally decided to live with your fellow elves ?"  
Keith smirked : he knew the blond exhuberant elf was joking as the sylvan elf had claimed the birds as his own kin, and he weared some of Matthew's feathers in his hair with pride. Some of the kids have asked why he was always wearing Matthew's, and only Matthew's feathers, but he had smiled and told them it was an elvish custom.  
A woodelvish courting custom more exactly. Keith was actually working on courting the red tailed hawk-like leader of the winged assassins. As far as he knew, the results were not as good as expected : it seemed Matthew had not seen any sign and the elf wondered if he needed to be more obvious in his approach... He would ask Erestor next time, maybe the counselor knew a thing or two about courting an oblivious male future mate. After all, gossips were all about him and Glorfindel being together...  
"Five of our children are missing." Explained Matthew, hoovering near the patrol. "They wanted to explore the mines nearbyand they are not back.  
-The quintet ?" Asked one of the soldiers. "In the abandonned mines ? Those mines are inhabited by goblins !"  
The patrol looked agitated by the news and Glorfindel took a serious face :  
"You two are going to get yourselves killed if you go alone. We will accompany you. The quintet are friends with most of the warriors in Imladris, we won't let them in the hands of goblins."  
If Matthew had doubts about elves being ferocious, they would have been crushed right now...  
Fortunatly for the winged leader, the imladrian elves knew the mountains paths very well and thanks to the quintet always fooling around together, there were colored feathers on the grounds to follow.  
The mine itself was ancient, abandonned for no one knew how long, certainly made by dwarves at first, then used by men before being left and now the goblins had claimed it as their home. Not for long...  
The horses had been left at the entrance and the elves had entered the caverns. Matthew was already inside and, from the sounds and inhuman screams who could be heard, had started the slaughter. Keith ran to join him and Glorfindel followed with his soldiers, wanting their share of goblin's blood.  
Later, Glorfindel had to admit a few things :  
-First, he and his soldiers had not had a good fight in months, and it was very welcomed for the warriors  
-Second, woodelves fight dirty. And Keith is no exception.  
-Third, he would have never known about the abundance of goblins so close to the Valley if they weren't searching for the missing quintet  
-Four, Angry Bird Matthew was scary enough for every elf to NOT want to stand between him and his adopted children.  
-Five, Keith was not an elf to piss off.  
The quintet had been found in the center of the mines, all of them tied up with dirty ropes in front of a bigger and obese goblin. Matthew wanted to charge but Keith grabbed him by the tail feathers to keep in near.  
"Don't move yet. The one in the center is the goblin king. He is just bigger than the others and it's enough for him to lead the whole colony. Goblin kings are smarter and we need to use a distraction if we want to win this one."  
Glorfindel approved with a nod, and Matthew settled down a bit, feathers still puffed up but his posture was less tense.  
The goblin king was singing something Matthew couldn't understand but from the elves'faces, it was maybe for the best.  
"What does he says ?" He whispered to Glorfindel.  
"You don't want to know." Replied the blond elf. "I'm serious : you don't want to know."  
At least the quintet was still alive, and not approving the performance.  
"Oh no." Facepalmed Keith."If they decide to show the king what singing is...  
-They will." Smirked Matthew. "The goblins is obviously proud of his singing voice. They will show him what real singing is."  
Glorfindel actually perked up :  
"Well, we now have our distraction."  
The soldiers grinned : finally some action !  
They didn't pay attention to the song as they were actually making their way toward the center, slaying every goblins as fast and quietly as possible. The elves were actually surprised : the five younglings were actually good singers ! Their voices were powerful enough to cover the most discreet metallic noises of the swords and it helped that Keith was actually still holding the winged leader down, assisted by Glorfindel in his task. When the children would be safely circled by the patrol, they would free the angry hawk-like man and let him latch out on the pests. They would even help him to empty the mines of this filth, but for now, they had to hold him and wait.  
The goblin king paled drastically when he saw his subjects fleeing in panic from the deadly attack. Elves ! Many elves !! Too much for them to fight all in the same time ! Goblins were strong in numbers but if the ennemy was more than one, it was the best to flee !  
Glorfindel and Keith shared a glance, nodded, and released Matthew. Keith immediatly covered his ears and Glorfindel imitated him, not knowing why at first but he understood when he heard the winged man screeching while he was charging the goblin king. Wow ! Those screechs would actually scare a pack of wargs ! And maybe Imladrian elves if done during the darkest hours of night...  
The goblin king got lifted in the air and thrown into the nearest wall, before being jumped by a furious bird with large wings and sharp talons. The green-skinned creature was too fat to actually move fast and it was easy for the assassin to grab him with his talons, his wings shielding them from the others. His hidden blade unsheated it self in a swift move and the two stared at each other before the blade found its way through the king's throat.  
"Why is he hiding from us with his wings ?" Asked one the elven warrior, untying a dirty and shaking Garrett before going to Dante and frowning as the ropes had actually provoked some burns and scrapes on the wings.  
"Assassination is not a pretty sight." Answered Keith, not looking at the big wings and ignoring the garbles coming from dying goblins. "So he hides the view when I am near. Actually, all of them tend to use their wings to hide the scene from people."  
When Matthew folded his wings behind his back, the goblin king was dead, his blood flowing from a deep cut on his throat.  
"Well, another goblin king killed. The last one has died when the Thorin Company has crossed the Misty Mountains." Smiled Glorfindel. "We will have anothers kings, of course. But if we are lucky, they will be too afraid of us to try something again."  
Keith managed to coax Jonathan from hiding under his own wings and offered his coat as a new shelter.  
"How cute..." Chuckled one of the soldiers.  
They laughed less when Drew decided to flap his wings and to land on one of them, his talons gripping the armored shoulder pads. The elf stumbled a bit but regained his balance quickly and stood proudly with the young bird on his shoulders.  
"Hey ! Not fair ! I want one too !"  
Gregory looked at Glorfindel offering his arm as he would do as a falconer for a hawk and turned away, refusing to use the tall blonde elf as a perch.  
"Oh come on... How Glaidir can have a bird and not me ?"  
Keith actually laughed and told the Seneschal about the time he managed to have three of the winged teens using him as a perch for fun. Glorfindel saw an opportunity for competition and made a bet about managing five. The sylvan elf accepted the challenge : they would do it in Imladris when the weather would be warmer so they could do it outside, and away from Elrond and Erestor who would certainly not approve of this challenge.  
"Glorfindel !" Called Matthew. "Thank you for helping.  
-No thanks needed." Replied the blond elf. "But I expect some assistance from you if I need it.  
-No problem : just ask and tell us who do you need to get killed and it will be done.  
-Not necessary killing but... Well, maybe you could take care of some orcish packs on the Southern side of the Valley ? We spotted three packs last week.  
-I will deal with them.  
-Good. Now on this perch-thing...  
-I'm not using you as a landing spot.  
-Oh come on !"  
Drew looked perfectly happy on his elf.  
"What was saying the Goblin king when he was singing ?" Asked Dante to one of the warriors.  
The elf rose an eyebrow and replied with a calm voice :  
"He was describing how he would tie you up nice and tight on a wooden spike and roast you alive like he would cook chicken. That and other things that are not for your age."  
Matthew froze :  
"What ?! That son of...  
-He's dead, Matthew !" Reacted Keith. "You killed him. He can't rape and roast the children anymore... Oh dammit..."  
This time, Glorfindel facepalmed and just had the time to catch the winged leader by a wing feather to lead him toward the exit before he would engage in another killing spree. After hearing the angry bird cussing some colorful insults and some imaginative threats, he decided to not tell his lord about this little adventure : Elrond would be too preoccupied by this and besides : what happened in the mines, stayed in the mines.


	11. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legolas gets a new friend

**Legolas'birdfriend**

Anna looked by the window and sighed : soon the healers would be coming here and do another forcefeeding... She hated those but she knew why they were doing this. She had stopped eating again for weeks and this time, Matthew and Keith had called the lord Elrond of Imladris for help, unable to cope any longer with her starving herself to death.  
She knew she was sick : she had a severe case of anorexia and was just skin, bones and feathers. But even looking like a skeleton, she still felt the need of losing weight. It was in her head, she knew that, but she still had to do it.  
Elrond had been worried when he had received the apathic winged young woman. He had been more worried when he had learnt that the sickness was all mental. As long as she refused to get better and to fight to get stronger, even the best healers could do nothing as it would relapse again and maybe get worse.  
Her health was bad. She was always cold and aching. Her wings were so weak she couldn't fold them on her back and they were being dragged on the floor. She didn't know how to fly and even the healers weren't sure if she would be able to learn one day. Her white feathers were dull and fragile, breaking and falling easily. Her talons were clipped so they wouldn't shatter the sheet and claw the healers'arms or torso when she tried to put a fight against them.  
She looked again by the window : freedom was so close... She could just... Without thinking, she opened the window and jumped.  
Her wings stretched themselves by instinct, catching winds. She glided for a few seconds before she couldn't hold her wings anymore and she fell in the -thankfully empty- gardens.  
"Ai !!"  
Well... not so empty.  
"Crebain !"  
Oh for fuck's sake...  
"Do I look like a giant crow to you ?!" She growled at the downed blond elf she had fallen on. "Seriously ! Look at my feathers ! Are they black ? Are you color blind ?"  
The elf sputtered and sat up. He looked at the white feathers and had the decency to blush :  
"You don't look like a crebain.  
-No shit, Sherlock.  
-My name is Legolas, not Sherlock.  
-Well, Legolas. My name is Anna. Now, will you help me to escape the healers or not ?  
-Not fond of the Healing Wing ?  
-No.  
-Well... I'm not so fond of the Healing Wing either... Maybe we can just walk around ?"  
Anna looked at him and spotted some red on his green tunic.  
"You're hurt." She stated, pointing at the stain.  
"It's just a scratch. It will heal on its own in no time."  
He looked so sure of himself, so confident... And it looked like he was escaping the healers too. At least, she had one partner in crime today. Maybe she could have a walk with him and forget about the healers for a little time.  
"I would like to walk with you in those gardens, Legolas."

The gardens around the Main House were an amazing sight. Everything was done to keep it tidy and beautiful. There were some immaculate stone benches here and here so people could sit to rest or to just enjoy the view. Sadly, she felt her strenght fading as she had too little energy to keep up with the young elf just after a few minutes of walking.  
"I need a break." She whispered, emberassed by her weakness. "I can't go further."  
Legolas watched, brows furrowed in concern :  
"What's wrong ?"  
Should she tell him about her condition ? What would he think of her ? Would he drag her back to her room and lock her in ? Would he try to guilt her into eating like one of those healers always did ? Would he mock her ? Laugh at her ? Call her names ?  
He was still looking at her in a concerned gaze. She sighed at finally spoke :  
"I have an eating disorder."  
He nodded and waited, so she continued to talk. How it started when she had been entering her teenage years, when childrens are cruel to each other to make themselves feel better. Some bullies had always mocked her for being "fat" and how much their words had been hurtings over the years. At first, she had started with diets, and since it wasn't enough, that the bullies were still calling her names, she had taken into stopping eating. Her parents, too busy with their work, had never remarked anything and it had stayed this way until arriving to Middle Earth. Matthew had always watched her closely as she suffered from a poor health and fainting spells but he would have never thought it her mental sickness was that bad. Keith had been horrified when learning about this sickness : elves didn't have this sort of problems. And by Legolas'face, she could tell that having someone obsessively starving themselves in order to loose weight was not something seen or heard of in elven realms.  
"So, you are not eating at all." Concluded Legolas, sitting on the bench next to her. "Just because some kids had been mean to you because they projected their insecurities on you.  
-You can say that. That's stupid, right ?  
-No, I guess people react differently to mistreatment.  
-You have been bullied too ?  
-My peers never wanted to play with me when I was an elfling. I was too odd for them and the youngest son of the King. So, I was alone most of my time.  
-So, who mistreated you ?  
-My father actually.  
-What ?!  
-Yes, my father is not a nice elf. He is a good king but not a kind one. I hope your path will never meet his soon because you are in no shape to hold your own against him.  
-Why would I have to hold my own against your father ? Elves are pacifist, aren't they ?  
-Not in my homeland. My people have to fight everyday against the dark forces. My father is bitter and dangerous. He distrusts the other races and even other elven realms. With your wings and talons, he would either kill you on the spot or lock you down in a cell.  
-I hope Matthew or the rest of the flock will never meet him then..."  
She knew Legolas hadn't told her everything, just as she hadn't told him everything as well. Maybe she would tell him more someday and he would do as well...  
The blond elf was getting reckless but she was still tired from her jump and little walk. He looked at her clipped talons, his shoulders covered by thin leather pads, her talons again, assessed her small frame, the wings and tail feathers, his shoulders again, then grinned :  
"You can stay on my shoulders."  
Wait, what ?  
"If you stay on my shoulders, we can continue to explore the gardens without exhausting you.  
-I'm too heavy to perch on your shoulders !  
-Believe me : you are not. I'm pretty sure Lord Glorfindel can carry you on his arm like a falconer with his bird of prey.  
-Don't tempt him : he is trying to do that everytime he meet one of our flock, but no one want to use him as a perch for now.  
-Well, would you use my shoulders and let me carry you around so we can see more of the gardens ? I will show you the best places and maybe we can make Glorfindel jealous."  
She sighed as he smiled and she stood up on the bench. He grinned and offered a forearm as a step to help her climb him and settle on his two shoulders. Deciding standing on both shoulders was too stupid, she moved carefully on his left shoulder and crouched slowly, letting her left foot rest on his arm. Her clipped claws could not hurt the elf who was proudly standing with his new birdfriend.  
"Tell me if I'm too heavy."Muttered Anna, still unsure about the plan.  
Legolas grinned and started to walk around.

Elrond spotted them hours later near the waterfalls. At first, he wanted to drag them both to the Healing Wing and lecture them about their reckless behaviors. Legolas had been injured from an orc attack and was still not fully healed. Anna was suffering from this mental illness and her body was threatening to shut down as it couldn't bear the starving periods any longer. He was disappointed by the two of them having escaped the healers'rooms but as he walked silently toward them he saw Anna, crouching on Legolas right shoulder and arm, listening to the blond elf and watching at the different things he pointed and talked about. Anna seemed more happy to be outside with the young prince, and Legolas was more relaxed and joyful with the feathered young woman on his shoulders.  
Maybe those two could heal each other wounds ? Not the physical but the psychological ones ? Legolas had never been able to have friends in his childhood. He had grown lonely with absent brothers and a rather violent father. Anna had been ignored by her own parents and bullied into developing this deadly habit to starve herself. The lord of Imladris wanted them to heal and get better. The blond prince was less somber and smiled at his new friend.  
Yes, maybe those two could help each other...  
He smiled discreetly and walked to meet them :  
"Greetings, children."  
Both of them looked sheppish as they had been caught out of their rooms, but he kept his gentle smile and gaze.  
"Lord Elrond." Replied the newly formed duo. "Maybe we should go...  
-There is no need." Cut Elrond in an amused tone. "I can see the fresh air had done some good to both of you. But I expect you at dinner in the Hall of Fires at nightfall and back into your rooms right after. Anna, you may keep your carrier for now. I see you are quite comfortable here."  
Anna blushed and her feathers flattened a little. The elf lord smirked : Matthew had the same behavior when he was embarrassed. In fact, all of the birds had this behavior when embarrassed.  
There was still time before dinner and since those two had been exploring the outdoors for the whole afternoon, maybe he could herd them inside and walk with them just to be sure he would see them at dinner and later in ther rooms.  
"Legolas, have you shown the library to your new friend ? Or the indoor garden, maybe ?"  
It turned how he didn't, so the lord walked them inside to continue further exploration of the Main House.

Erestor had scoffed later as he had found fallen white feathers in his domain but Elrond paid no mind as he watched Legolas talking with Anna at the dinner table. Both of them looked exhausted by their exploration but at least the young prince wasn't brooding and the young bird was slowly sipping the bowl of soup she had to drink. Small steps but tonight was a victory for the healers. Now, if this could keep going, it would be great.

Thankfully, the young prince stayed a few more weeks in Imladris, as winter came and covered the place in a beautiful white snowcoat. Elrond's sons, Elladan and Elrohir, went back from wherever they were to spend some time with their father. They had been delighted to see their woodland friend, and curious about the feathered woman who was still struggling with anorexia, but who had now a reason to fight the sickness. She still tired easily and had to rest often due to her low energy and weak body, but Legolas was always happy to offer his shoulders as a perch. The twins hadn't waited long before offering their shoulders as well, as they were taller and broader than the sindar prince, so they would be a better landing spot, as they vanted to an embarrassed Anna and Legolas and an amused elven lord.  
Their faces when they had learnt that she couldn't fly had been priceless too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elrond muses and Thranduil decides to take matters in his own hands while visiting Imladris.

**Chapter 9 : the darkening times :**

Elrond was worried : some news reported by the scouts, and the winged assassins, were not good.  
This had to be confirmed but Curunir, also known as Saruman the White, was behaving more than strangely. Mirkwood was confronted by more orcs than either as Dol-Guldur seemed to be a new breeding center.  
Matthew had sent his infernal trio spying this not so abandonned fortress and the reports were not reassuring : orcs were thriving in this place and as the birds were not welcomed in Mirkwood, they couldn't contact or help the woodelves without risking prison or death.  
Lothorien had been reforcing its frontiers by multiplying patrols and Imladris had done the same. The orcs and goblins were becoming bolder. They had avoided the area for years because of the joined effort between the winged assassins and imladrian elves but now there were back.   
The elven lord signed and massaged his front : all of this was giving him some severe headaches. He knew it was time for the elves to leave Middle Earth but he felt his kin had to help a last time. Sauron was coming back and the elves couldn't let the men alone against the Evil One. The dwarves were to busy hiding in their mountains and would not feel concerned as long as it wouldn't touch them personally. The men were weak against the power of Sauron. The elves had no choice : they had to step up one more time, hopefully the last. Leaving Middle Earth now would be like giving it to Sauron with a pretty ribbon.  
He thought about the winged assassins : they were strong, they were good fighters, but too few to be a serious threat to the evil armies. And last time the elven lord had checked : none of the birds had reproduced, so their numbers were not going to grow anytime...  
Flapping wings caught his attention and he saw Matthew flying in the sky with Keith riding a chestnut hippogriff. He smiled : Keith was still trying to court the winged leader the subtle way but Matthew was still too oblivious to recognize the signs. Erestor had proposed to help but his help had been refused by the silvan elf. Erestor's idea of helping was apparently using tea spiked with some strong apphrodisiac and Keith refused to leave Matthew alone with the dark elf since.  
Elrond frowned : this idea was reminding him of the time him and Lindir had been alone drinking tea and... Oh crap, Erestor... He had spiked their tea and the elven lord had completly ravished the minstrel the whole night that day. He remembered being sore the next morning and his sweet Lindir hadn't been able to leave the bed the whole day after, nor him. He was going to strangle his advisor...   
That he didn't know was the fact that the spiked tea had been made by the winged quintet and the infernal trio who wanted to help Glorfindel to win his bet. They had maybe messed up with the dose of drug inside the tea... Erestor had been pissed off for a little while, then had congratulated the birds for putting such a feat, and started to advise them on the use of poisonous plants for their missions.  
The elven lord spotted his sons walking in the gardens with Anna. She was walking, so they might just have started their walk. She was recovering very slowly, but progress was being made. Still, the healers weren't sure about a complete recovery since she had spent so many years starving herself to death. Her growth had been messed up in her teenage years, her wings were too weak to actually support their own weight and her health was still very poor. He sighed : she wouldn't never leave the safety of Imladris under his watch, and if he could, he would take her to Valinor when it would be time for him to leave.   
He hoped he would be able to take all of the winged folk with him to Valinor : they were immortal too, and their wings were not accepted behond men. If the elves left, the birds would be left to their doom. As Galadriel had said more than once : he had unofficially adopted them as his over the years, and everyone in the elven realms was aware of this fact : even the irrascible Thranduil who had demanded Matthew's blood (and head) since the winged leader had escaped the underground palace with his charges and a rogue guard. Meludir had been very upset on the "rogue guard" point and his big brother had been angry enough to ask the winged quintet's help for revenge.  
Elrond had no idea of what could have happened since no one had judged useful to tell him. Galadriel was certainly aware of the events, as she smirked every time she spotted the five brightly-colored winged men. They always smiled back and waved at her before leaving to their next destination. The elven lord shrugged mentally : he would eventually know.  
Glorfindel yelled some orders in the background, training the warriors. Good. They needed the training. Why were his sons not training with the Balrogslayer by the way ? It wasn't in their habits to slack off training... He decided to walk and check.  
He found Lindir on the way, practicing with other minstrels. A shame he hadn't yet managed to make him perform in front of people other than himself, Erestor, Glorfindel, his children or more recently the birds (if they were hiding well enough from his sight). Maybe one day...  
Ah. There they were... The terror twins. Training with Glorfindel as expected. Where was Anna ? Oh. Perching on the sturdy woodfences and watching the elves moving and sparring like a hawk. Her wings were still dropping down but Elrond could easily see the form and the color of a white goshawk, along with the long white tail feathers. A shame she couldn't fly. Well, having a pedestrian white hawk wasn't that bad...  
"Good afternoon, child." He greeted before standing next to her crouching from. "I see the training of my warriors has caught your interest.  
-Good afternoon, Lord Elrond." She replied with calm, not even startled. "I'm more intrigued. Keith is more careful when he trains with the flock. It looks like Glorfindel and the twins are trying to murder each other."  
Elrond chuckled.  
"I assure you they are not going to kill each other. Any news from Prince Legolas ?  
-He is back to Mirkwood since Gandalf has given him his sort of secret mission. I hope he is well. His father is not very nice. We had to hide from him the whole time during his last visit.  
-I'm aware of your hiding. I spotted you and Legolas on the roofs more than once. And one time you were hiding in Glorfindel's office ?  
-Erestor's office too. Erestor made us do some paperwork for him since we were going to stay. Since no one is brave enough to bother Erestor, we were safe in his office. Melpomaen is actually nice when he doesn't bump into you and make his scrolls fall everywhere.  
-I assume you have found an occupation then ?  
-Yes, assisting with the paperwork. And the twins always want me to walk with them. They say I must exercise more if I want to gain more strenght.  
-They are right. And eating too. Are they still trying to teach you how to fly ?  
-No, thank gods. Last time was ridiculous... I've never laughed that hard in a long time.  
-Good."  
They watched the training in silence, except when the elven lord was explaining some of the fighting moves to the winged woman who wasn't able to fight on her own. Elrond knew she was too weak to use a weapon in battle, not even for a light training session, but if watching warriors and understanding their moves could help her to protect and defend herself until arrival of help, the elven lord was happily letting her learn and observe as much as she wanted.

A few days later, he got a missive form Thranduil who had decided to come for a visit. He sighed : the wine cellar had still not recovered from the last time the elven king had visited Imladris. He needed to restock immediatly. And he needed to tell Glorfindel to do an inventory from the armory : last time, a few armors had been missing and they still hadn't been found since. He also had to warn Erestor and Lindir, to tell them to prepare the best suite for the king, to keep young Meludir away from the Main House for the next month (just to be safe), to keep Anna away from any elf from Mirkwood (maybe at the same hiding place with Meludir), to warn Matthew so no bird would fly in the area until it was safe to do so... He had four days to everything done...  
...  
He was doomed...  
Thankfully Erestor had managed to find more wine and Lindir had handled the suite and the "Meludir and Anna Situation" with calm and efficiency. The young elf and bird were secluded in a more rural aera of Imladris, put with elven farmers who were more than happy to shelter the two youngling away from the irrascible elvenking, in exchange for the two to help with the chores.  
Glorfindel had done the inventory : every piece of armor, every sword, dagger, bow, arrow and spear had been counted and noted of a scroll carefully kept in Erestor's office, as no one was stupid enough to trespass the dark elf's workspace.  
The birds had been warned by Palantir who, for once, hadn't been spilled from his horse as it seemed it was now the tradition between the messengers and the birds. Only Palantir was receiving this treatment and he seemed proud of it.  
Elrond decided to not question Palantir's sanity and was relieved that everything was ready for Thranduil's arrival. Now, they just had to wait.

The elvenking arrived on his regal elk and a rather important party of elven soldiers for someone just visiting Imladris. All of the soldiers seemed to have encountered some foes on the way. That explained they were arriving such lately in the day. Most of the time, Thranduil arrived during the morning, not the evening.  
When he inquired about the travel, the elvenking had just smirked and answered with a nonchalant voice :  
"Oh, we just encountered some pests on the way, but don't worry : my soldiers and I took care of them. They are not going to bother us anymore, now."  
Thranduil's sword was still covered in blood, and Lindir made a face when he spotted a small bloody feather stuck between two pieces of armor in one of the Mirkwood soldiers. Glorfindel looked worried as well : Thranduil was too gleeful for it to be normal. The elvenking had done something but what ?  
If the feather was a clue, the Vanya wasn't sure of what to do with it. Erestor decided to show nothing on his face but the advisor wasn't stupid : the claw marks on some of the armors (and elves's arms and faces) hadn't been made by orcs, nor wargs. He decided to have a serious talk with Glorfindel later, in the safety of their suite.  
Later in the evening, as the elven lord was dining with the elvenking, the Senechal and the adviser of Imladris were chatting in their room with Lindir, and the tall blond elf decided to ride immediatly to the Village, not being able to shake off the dread feeling he was having since Thranduil was here.

Elrond sweared as he got awoken by an alarmed Lindir at far too early hour. His assistant was speaking too fast for his liking, and he only got some words like "Glorfindel", "bad feeling", "birds" and "burned".  
...  
Wait what ?  
"Can you repeat what you just said, Lindir ?" He asked, finally awake enough to think clearly.  
His assistant was wearing the same clothes than the day before and he looked like he hadn't sleep at all.  
"Yes, my lord. My apologies. Glorfindel, Erestor and I had a bad feeling after King Thranduil's arrival so Glorfindel decided to check on the birds'village. The village had been attacked and burned to the ground. He couldn't check more closely during the night but he wants to go back as soon as possible to check for survivors and find out more."  
The village ? Burned to the ground ? Who was foolish enough to attack the winged assassins'home ?  
"Tell Glorfindel I will be joining him. Matthew and Keith would never let anyone attack their home and their younglings without a fight."  
Erestor and Lindir had agreed to keep the king entertained as long as Elrond and Glorfindel needed, and the two elven lords left with a small patrol on their fastest horses.  
Palantir met them halfway, pointing the black smoke still going toward the sky with a really worried glance. The young messenger loved to spend time with the birds as he had been rough-housing a lot with a few of them when he wasn't getting thrown from his horse.  
Elrond's worries were confirmed as they got closer to the place : the houses and buildings were burned and still smoking, the stables had been opened and emptied. A dozen horses were laying around, killed by arrows stuck in their neck and chest. The poor steeds had tried to run away from danger and had been shot down without mercy.  
Three hippogriffs were found dead as well, shot by the same arrows. Glorfindel showed one of those arrows to Elrond who frowned : those were elvish, not orcish.  
They entered the village : the gardens and fields were devastated. The small farm with the chicken was no more but black stones and embers. A few chickens were still running around, though, trying to find food in this desolation.  
The elves decided to split up to cover more ground and inspect the houses and main buildings. Elrond was going to enter the Main Hall, as Matthew liked to call it, when he heard Palantir calling for help.  
Everyone ran toward the young messenger and froze at the scene : the house was roofless, partialy destroyed and there was a brown wing sticking out from under a piece of ceiling. They had to team up to move this piece around, only to discover a dead winged young woman, lying on what seemed to be a destroyed nest made of branches, hay and blankets. She had been protecting it and her chest was actually still pierced by a elegant elvish sword.  
"This is Helen." Sobbed Palantir. "She had layed two eggs three days ago and she was so proud of them. She and Thomas had worked hard on building their nest in this house so the little ones would be safe and warm."  
Elrond hadn't even been aware of the eggs...  
"They wanted to tell you, my lord..." Sniffed the messenger. "But since king Thranduil was going to arrive, they had decided to wait until his departure to bring you the news. A few of them were expecting and building their nests to have their eggs."  
Two guards moved carefully Helen's body and Palantir sobbed harder : the eggs were squashed. Elrond examined the eggs, they were partially emptied from their fluids and the smell was slowly becoming worse. He estimed the lenght of the eggs to be around 35 centimeters, but he couldn't estimate the weight. The shell was thin, white with a few pastel colored spots. Those eggs had a thinner and smoother shell than ordinary bird eggs, certainly because the winged assassins weren't fully birds and therefore not adapted to lay fully formed hard-shelled eggs. If he wasn't in the middle of a burned village with corpses around, he would have been delighted to learn about that and study it more.  
"My lord," Tried one the guards. "What do we do ?"  
He sighed and looked at the woman laying motionless in her protecting stance around her now destroyed nest.  
"Check the other houses. We must find out what happened exactly here and why, -he gestued to the shattered eggs- someone decided it was fine to kill a future mother with her clutch."

The guards found six other dead birds inside the other houses, all of them having fought for their lives fiercely and Elrond got called again :  
"My lord ! Check this !"  
The elven lord heard Glorfindel swearing loudly and running toward the call and he decided to enter the Main Hall. He pushed the wooden door who fell on the dirtied ground. The place was a mess. The shelves holding all the birds'"trophies" were destroyed and the various objects and stones were shattered. Elrond wasn't sure his people would be able to fix some of the objects : it was nothing expensive but all the kids had been proudly bringing back their findings to Matthew and Keith who had kept all of them and exposed them like treasures to be proud of. Elrond himself had been of the receiving end of those strange gifts, mostly elvish weapons and tools found around, always deposited on his balcony. Lindir was often getting gifts as well, mostly feathers or pretty stones, sometimes flowers.  
Elrond pinched his lips : those gifts-giving were certainly over now...  
He wandered in the room, finding no one, and checked the kitchens and the floor upstairs. No one was here, but he could tell the place had been raided and all the furnitures smashed. There was some clothes scatered on the ground, slashed beyond repair. Everything had been vandalized. Why ?  
"Elrond !" Called Glorfindel. "We found Keith ! Well, most of him... Sort of..."  
The poor elf was lying motionless against a tree trunk, nailed to it by a sword in his stomack. His right arm was missing, but it was obviously a sword who did the cutting. Palantir had to run away to empty his stomach as the elven lords gasped :  
"He has been beheaded."  
The head was on the ground, having rolled two meters away from the body. Glorfindel gulped as he was fighting himself to get his anger in check :  
"He has been forced to watch his village burn and his kids being slaughtered... I found corpses in the back of the village. Not the feathered ones, but silvan elves wearing Mirkwood armors. But something is strange : some of them were wearing Imladris amors as well as Lorien ones."  
Elrond froze : what ?!  
"Armors from our Valley and from Lorien ?! But... no elf from our realms would attack them. Why would we launch an attack after keeping friendly relationships for years and...  
-My lords," Tried one of the guards. "Armors had been missing everytime a Mirkwood delegation would come recently. I guess we know why now...  
-Thranduil told us he had taken care of pests on his way..." Mused Glorfindel before becoming pale. "Oh no, the pests...  
-Were our birds."Finished Palantir, having emptied his stomach between bushes. "I've found another Mirkwood elf in the bushes. I may have vomited on him. He is dead by the way.  
-Is he wearing claw marks or precise stabbing wounds ?" Required Elrond in a flat tone betraying in boiling anger at this whole mess.  
-Yes, my lord.  
-That means he has been killed by our winged assassins. Matthew had not been found ?" -every guard shook their head "no"- "He had managed to escape with the rest of the birds. They must somewhere.  
-My lord," asked Palantir. "Why didn't they seek refuge in Imladris ? Why fleeing somewhere with no clue for us on how to find them ?  
-They have been attacked by elves." Answered Elrond in a sad voice. "Attacked and slaughtered without reason by elves wearing armors from different elven realms. They might never trust us again after this. Thranduil has destroyed a five decade-long friendship between Imladris, Lorien and this small tribe of birds. I need to warn Galadriel, Cirdan and Gildor about this. We need to salvage what we can from this mess and hope they won't go for revenge.  
-It would be within their rights." Stated Glorfindel. "With such different elvish armors used here, they must think that we betrayed them. They fled away and no one went to us. My lord, maybe we can send some search parties and see if they can find them.  
-They might think we are here to finish them. But if we don't search for them, they might think we left them to die. Glorfindel, I will let you organize the search parties when we will be back to Imladris. I prefer to deal with a flock of angry hurt birds than having them fully healed and seeking revenge on our realms. Now, let's burry the bodies with the others on the hill behind.   
-My lord." Spoke another guard. "Their cemetery is devastated.  
-Wait... Are you telling me that...  
-The tombs : all of them had been destroyed. And bones scattered. Whoever did this has done this on purpose."  
Desecrating the dead... Had Thranduil fallen this low ? Elrond sighed.  
"Bring back the bodies to Imladris and find a secure spot to burry them. They will be safe in our lands.  
-What are we going to do with King Thranduil, my lord ?  
-Nothing for now. I'm far too upset to confront the king and keep my calm. I need to seek council from lady Galadriel and lord Celeborn before taking any decision about this whole digusting act. We may have lost our best spying allies and with the darkness being stronger as days pass, I fear for the future."


	13. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 :**

The trip back toward Imladris was silent : every elf needed to wrap their head about the slaughter and destruction who happened in this now ghost-village. This place had to be cursed somehow : it was the fourth of fifth time the inhabitants had been attacked and had to flee, except this time, orcs weren't the ones responsible but woodelves and their temperamental king.  
It was noon when they arrived in the city. Elrond gestued the guards to choose a quiet place where they could put the birds and broken eggs to rest. They had to do it discreetly, to not alarm the Mirkwood guests and show then that we were aware of their feat. Lindir chocked back a sob when he saw some partially burned feathers sticking out of the improvised covers and had to leave and isolate himself in his chamber, followed by an equally distressed Melpomaen. Erestor pinched his lips but showed nothing, only a harder glare toward non watching woodelves happily chatting with Imladris residents.  
The guards chose a remote garden with an imposing oak tree, big enough to be used as an hiding spot for winged assassins who always liked to sneak on Lindir when the elf was practicing by himself. Everyone would be safe here, and the elves started to burry their feathered friends under the tree, asking it to protect their fallen friends. The tree accepted to look after them as it has always welcomed the young mischevious birds on its branches.  
Keith was put with them, as he had always be here for them as an adoptive guardian and parent. Elrond used this time to write four long letters explaining the recent events and asking them to watch and protect the surviving winged assassins, if they found them. Then, he used messenger ravens to send the missives to Galadriel, Cirdan, Gildor and finally Legolas, who had to know what his father had done. He eventually told the sindar prince to not talk to anyone in Mirkwood about this and to not seek the assassins as there was a potential risk of retalation from them. No Legolas, needed to keep silent about this and let of the lords and lady from the others realms decide of the next course of action toward the elvenking.  
He sighed and looked at the big map in his office : where could they be ? Had they found shelter in a safe place ?  
"My lord." Called Erestor softly. "Thranduil is starting to wondering where you are. I told him you had some urgent messages to look and answer but I won't be able to hold him from you anylonger."  
Elrond made a face and massaged his temples : he had to keep his composure and not showing anything to the elvenking. He would have to focus on his best diplomatic skills until the king's departure or it would end in a war between the two realms, something the elven lord wanted to avoid.  
"I will join him." He sighed. "How are Lindir and Melpomaen ?  
-They are upset, my lord. And they are not the only ones. The kitchen staff saw the guards carrying the corpses and the feathers were sticking out of the blankets. They saw the eggs as well. It won't be long before the whole city will be aware of what happened to our wild birds, and asking to avenge them.  
-I know, Erestor. I find myself wanting to fight and injure Thranduil but I can't. Not now. I warned the other realms and we will have to take a decision about him and his subjects. Has someone told Anna and Meludir ?  
-Glorfindel just went to talk to them and give them the news himself. No survivor ?  
-None in the village. They have fought and fled away. There is no clue left for us to find them.  
-Why didn't they come to us ? We could have protect them.  
-Glorfindel has told you about the missing armors...  
-Yes, but I don't see why it is relevant...  
-Some of the killed elves we found in the village were wearing armors from our Valley and Lorien.  
-They what ? Those sons of..."  
Erestor sweared at least in five different languages, three of them not used anymore and Elrond did nothing to stop him.  
"Using OUR armors to slay OUR allies ! Unbelievable ! Not even orcs would fall this low ! This is unacceptable ! I can't even believe he would breach our treaty to satisfy his hateful need to kill everything that doesn't bow to his feet ! This is enough to declare war on his realm !"  
A few servants heard the words, gasped and scattered away, afraid of the dark advisor in his bad mood.

Meanwhile, in a small elven farm, Glorfindel and Meludir were hugging and comforting a really distressed Anna as their temporary hosts looked shocked and angry : everyone in the Valley knew about the winged neighbors as they had been exchanging a few words and a few small services regulary with them. Hearing what the elven king had done was a shock for everyone.  
How could one of their kin do this ? How attacking a town without provocation was acceptable ? How killing nesting mothers and destroying eggs was the thing to do ?   
And without the birds to actively track down and hunt orcs, would the patrols be able to protect the borders and all the inhabitants of Imladris as well as usual ?  
The farmers took one look at their small feathered guest and went to talk with their neighbors. The Valley had to know what had happened, and who did this. At the end of the day, already half of the city was aware and the second half got the news the next day.

The woodelves were now eyed with distrust : if they had stolen armors from Imladris to slay the birds, what other terrible feat had they done with armors from other realms ? With their armors ? Would they prepare an attack on Imladris as well ? On the Peredhel family ? Where the inhabitants even safe ?

Elrond was internally screaming as he listened to Thranduil during dinner. He was aware that his subjects knew what had happened. Erestor had told him about some of the population's worries about the method and how they feared a similar feat on the House of Peredhel. After all, if the elven king has ordered his soldiers to kill mothers, unborn children and a fellow elf, what could stop him to kill others allies ? The elven lord didn't know what to reply for now to reassure his house. His orders for now were clear : everyone had to keep behaving as if nothing happened, only some guards had been tasked to go to the farm and keep an eye on Meludir and Anna.  
If the farmers had been happy with the additionnal help, they were wary of Mirkwood elves and refused to interact with them, ignoring them and going on with their work.  
Glorfindel had to be reined down by the dark advisor multiple times for the next two weeks as he wanted to track down any elf from Mirkwood and give them a piece of his mind. It worked enough to avoid a diplomatic incident but the tall blond elf was still seething.  
Elrond told him to be patient several times : patrols were searching around for the surviving birds but they had found nothing except a few large feathers, some of them being broken or bloody. Elladan and Elrohir had been warned by a letter from their father and they were searching as well. Estel had been warned too, but as he was already on a mission given by Mithrandir, he couldn't join the search for the feathered assassins.  
Elrond hoped they were still alive and hidden somewhere safe. 

When Thranduil and his delegation finally left, the imladrian elves started to slowly relax and talk seriously about the events and the possible repercussions. Elrond received letters from Cirdan and Galadriel : none of them had found the birds and both were saddened by the news. His mother-in-law confirmed the problem of disappearing armors in Lothlorien, but Lindon hadn't been concerned. They all agreed on the fact that Thranduil had done something unforgivable, and since the elven king had been stealing and using armors from other elven realms to do his crimes, the three realms decided to cut ties with Mirkwood. No communication, no help, and to trade. They couldn't go to war due to the increasing threat in Middle Earth but Imladrian elves were angry enough to want to.  
As far as Galadriel and Celeborn were aware : lorien elves were pissed as well. Haldir had been friend with the elusive feathered Luna over the years and was worried about her. Last time the Marchwarden had seen his smaller friend : she had recently gotten pregnant and was due to start building her own nest quite soon. Since then, Haldir and his brothers had been waiting for letters to know the number of eggs (bets had been made), the date of birth (bets had been made again) and the colors on the newborn's feathers (bets again). Elrond was saddened by the prospect of telling the three brothers that their bets would certainly have to be cancelled due to the recent events.

Only Legolas was secretly receiving news from Imladris. He couldn't leave to join his feathered friend since he had his mission from Gandalf but he promised Anna to return as soon as he could. Until then, they were exchanging letters and waited.  
As Elrond and the other healers had feared, the winged girl had made a severe relapse in her anorexia and they had to redo all the work. Imladrian elves didn't want to lose their own bird, fearing she was actually the last, and they did their best to soothe her pain and deep depression.

Patrols were still searching around but they weren't the only ones : Mirkwood elves had been patrolling the area too, and this was highly suspicious as those elves were usually staying near their borders, on the East side of the Misty Mountains. Glorfindel had once decided to go and ask what they were looking for, thinking it was maybe a peculiar pack of orcs and dwarvish thieves (it could always happen...), and had come back really pissed off to his soldiers. Mirkwood elves were searching for birds who might have survived, under their king's orders. They had to search the destroyed village for clues and find where they could have fled, only to finish the job. 

Elrond wasn't happy about this : his soldiers and himself had searched the area, taken all the bodies, burried the birds and made a big pyre for the killed elves who still deserved fairer treatment than being left to rot in the ruins like Thranduil had done. The elven lord feared repercussions as the elven king would know about the village being cleaned of the corpses. The damaged armors had been stocked to be destroyed by the smiths and maybe rebuilt into other armors who would not be used to slay allies and friends.  
Thranfuil was maybe already aware of Elrond's actions, but the elvenking wouldn't be able to do anything without violating the pece treaties between the realms. And Galadriel had assured Elrond that Lorien would not hesitate to help Imladris if there was need.

For now, the elven lords and lady were waiting. Waiting for signs of the birds being alive somewhere in Middle Earth, and waiting far Thranduil's next action. The next months were going to awfully tense as the patrols were now watching for Mirkwood elves as well as orc packs near their borders.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 11 :**

"Ada !!"  
Elrond sighed as he looked up from his paperwork just to see his two sons barging in his office.  
"We found them !  
-Found who ?  
-The birds ! We found them !  
-Where are they ?  
-In the land of Bree ! They are hidden in the Weather Hills neighboring the Chetwoods ! The rangers helped them to settle in the ruins so they can have a safe place to nest and stay."  
Elrond immediatly stood up and went to his large map of Eriador : the land of Bree was quite far away from Imladris. It should have taken days, for the assassins to fly there. How many were still left ?  
"How many ?" He asked, fearing the worse. "How many of our winged neighbors have survived Thranduil's attack ?"  
The twins shrugged sadly.  
"We don't really know Ada. The rangers were not really trustful when we were asking about them. But since they know us they showed where they were nesting and we have counted a dozen pairs of different wings. We may have missed one or two..."  
Elrond froze and made a distressed noise : only a dozen birds still alive... He needed to see them and make sure they were safe. The elves had searched for 4 months, with no success, because the rangers had prefered to take matter in their own hands and to keep the birds'location secret.  
It was probably a good thing as the assassins were now settled in a safe place. Only a dozen left... Elrond wanted to count on them for the upcoming War but it would be useless : there was too few of them, and they probably wanted to do nothing with the elves anymore.  
But the elven lord had to try, at least to talk to them and make sure the feathered assassins would understand that the destruction of their home had been Thranduil's doing and only his doing.  
"I will need a small party." Spoke Elrond is a decided voice. "Warn Erestor I will be absent for the next month.  
-Ada." Tried Elrohir. "Are you sure this is a good idea ? You don't know where they are exactly.  
-That's why I'm counting on you two to guide me to them. I need to see them with my own eyes. I want to assess the damage.  
-And to persuade them to come with you back to Imladris ?"Suggested Elladan. "Ada, they might attack you.  
-We will see. But I still have to do this."  
And he had a letter to write to Galadriel as fast as possible !

It took only a few hours to assemble a small party of soldiers and Erestor was scolding Glorfindel for him wanting to come with Elrond as he was already accompanied by his sons. Imladris couldn't stay unprotected. So the tall blond reluctantly accepted to stay and help his dark mate to keep the Valley running. Lindir was distressed to know that his lord was leaving the city to find the remaining birds and he feared the worst already : what if his lord was attacked by wargs, or worse, orcs ? What if the birds attacked him ? What if they didn't find anything ? Or another slaughtered place ? What if Thranduil decided to make a visit while his lord was out somewhere around ? It would be a disaster...  
Erestor sighed and wondered if the kitchens had enough chamomile tea in stock. They were going to need it if they didn't want Lindir to have a breakdown in the next following days.

The trip toward Bree-land had been tense : the imladrian elves had been really careful on the way and some were scouting to check if no elf from Mirkwood had been following them from afar. They feared they might jump on the occasion to finish the job.  
Elrond sighed when his sons showed the nesting site : this was the ruins of an ancient dunadan fortress on the top of a hill surrounded by trees. Some buildings were still standing and from what the elves could see : it was occupied. They could spot some feathers here and here. A fire was burning in front of the bigger building and there was a small improvised training area as well as a few wolf pelts left to dry outside before being used as blankets or coats. But where were the birds ?  
He decided to dismount his black stallion and walked toward the place alone. His sons weren't sure about his decision but he was an experienced elven lord : if something happened, he would be able to deal with it until the twins would join and help him.  
He walked under the trees and stopped when he heard a rustling sound.  
"Are you going to attack me ?" He asked in a calm voice.  
"Do I have to ?" Replied Matthew's voice from the nearest tree. "Last time I met elves, they slaughtered my kids and Keith. Pardon me if I am not overjoyed to see you and your party.  
-How are the children ?  
-They survived, more or less. Dante lost his foot during the battle but a rather talented dwarf smith made him an articuled prostetic one. Thomas is slowly relearning how to use his wings since one of them had been broken. Luna lost an eye and her feathers had been too damaged for her to flight until the next molt. Judith had sadly passed away from her injuries, as well as others, but Katherine and Erwann are taking care of her clutch. In fact, they have been taking in all the orphaned eggs."  
Elrond perked up : eggs ? He looked up and saw his winged friend : he looked exhausted and had lost a lot of weight. His clothes were mostly brown and grey and his feathers were dull. A nasty scar was barring his left cheek, as if someone had tried to cut him with a sword.  
"When was the last time you had a good night of sleep ?  
-I can't sleep. No one can. We have been attacked during night. Everyone is now scared to go to sleep only to be awaken by the sounds of an attack.  
-You have been attacked during nightime ? How long did it last ? Your village wasn't far away from Imladris... Thranduil has come much later than usual in our Valley but it doesn't take an entire day to travel from there to my home...  
-The attack itself had been brief. Helen had been the one who warned us by screeching just before they killed her. It alarmed everyone but we were outnumbered. Keith had saved me from a sword attack and yelled at me to evacuate with everyone and that he would join me later. He never came so I guess he has been killed as well as the others...  
-We found him dead, decapitated." Spoke Elrond with a sad voice. "But I am certain he took as many opponents as he could with him during his death. We have found some dead soldiers as well, killed by your children. They have fought bravely. The elves of Mirkwood are known for their treacherious ways. They have been stealing armors from my realm and Lorien for years before launching an attack.  
-Stealing armors from your and Galadriels realms ? Whose twisted mind came with such an idea ?  
-The king of Mirkwood did. He was really proud to tell us that he had killed some pests on the way. He is the one behind the attack and they destroyed the entire village as well as the lifestock. Your cemetery had been vandalized as well.  
-Desecrating the deads ? Can he get even worse ?  
-I fear he still can do worse. The other elven realms are aware of this and we have been searching for you since. I have to admit that the rangers are good at keeping secrets : they never told us where you are hiding. It was my sons who showed me the place.  
-It's means that we are not hiding well enough then. I will have to relocate everyone again.  
-Please, Matthew, don't. This place is well guarded. The rangers are around. The eglains are near and Bree is where you have most of your contracts, if you still take them.  
-I do. We still have our contracts. But I don't think we will do any spying work soon, Elrond. What has been done can't be fixed. I trust you when you tell me that this is not your doing, but the kids might not. All we have seen that night had been elves attacking for no reason. I advise you and your kin to keep your distance for a while. The kids need time to heal, and I need time to heal as well. We will come back to you when we will be ready.  
-Matthew... I am really sorry for what happened.  
-I am sorry too, Elrond. Now, please, leave before they see you and your party.  
-Will we be able to arrange a meeting place ? In the Lone Lands perhaps ?  
-I will think about it, but not now. Take good care of Anna and keep her away from Mirkwood elves.  
-Meludir is always with her and the prince Legolas is still writing to her.  
-The prince of Mirkwood ? I don't want Thranduil's son to be alone with her until I deem him worthy. Meludir is a good guy, I trust him, but not Legolas.  
-Every elves from Mirkwood are now closely watched, we made sure of that. Even Lindon and Lorien are now watching for Mirkwood's elves. No one trust them anymore. We have isolated them and our scouts are to warn us of every little move coming from them.  
-Good, because if one of them approach this place, we will strike first. The rangers are helping us to keep this area safe during night. It's nice from them. They didn't have to help but they did.  
-The rangers have some complicated history but they know what is like to see your home destroyed and your kin being killed for no valable reason. They will help and protect you as long as you need. They protect the Shire borders as well, you know.  
-I know, I ran into them a couple of time when I had the first contract over there. We always have friendly spars with them. The kids like them, but not as much as your people, even if now the simple mention of elves being near tend to send everyone into a panic attack."  
The elven lord made a distressed sound : the winged ones were now terrified of elves ! How could he undo this ? There was no way he would let them suffer like this...  
He looked at Matthew's exhausted face and posture and made a sad smile : he could do nothing. Not now. They needed time to heal and recover. The rangers had been right about keeping them away from Imladris and the other elven realms. The birds needed to lick their wounds in peace for now. A part of him knew that if they needed time away, they would have to be reintroduced to elves in the near future or they would never fully heal from what Thranduil had done to them.  
He bided his goodbyes with the promise of writing to the winged leader to keep contact and to keep his subjects away from the nesting site. Matthew nodded and wished him a safe travel home.

Elledan and Elrohir felt relieved when they saw their father coming back unharmed from under the trees. They were saddened by the instructions of simply leaving the birds alone for now. They needed time. Elrond was going to give them what they needed.  
And when Galadriel and himself would judge the time right, they would reintroduce themselves to the winged tribe, to redo their friendship bonds and to finish closing the wounds.  
"Ada, are you sure there is nothing we can do ?  
-They have been attacked and have seen elves slaughter their friends and flock-mates, Elladan." Replied the elven-lord."For now, the wounds are still too fresh for us to not be associated with the attack. They need to finish grieving and to heal from the physical and mental wounds. They will come back to us, eventually.  
-And if they never come back to us ?  
-Matthew promised they would. Just not now.  
-How are we going to continue our spying without them ? They were great at their job.  
-We will do without them, as we did before becoming allies. It will just make more work for us.  
-What will happen to Thranduil ?  
-I still have to confront him about his actions, but I ordered to cut the trade with them and no military help will be offered to the woodland realm until further notice.  
-Do you know why he did this ?  
-Sadly, I don't. This is one of the questions I will have to ask next time I meet him."  
Next time he would meet the elvenking, he would need some guards as well... Not to protect him, but to protect the king from being punched in the face or worse. And not only by the elvenlord himself, but by many other elves in the Valley. Even the elves from Lothlorien were angry and he was sure that a certain Marchwarden was already volunteering to do the job if Celeborn was feeling himself too pacifist to do it. Even his mother in law would do it if she saw him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Thranduil going to be punched in the face ? Probably.  
By who ? Well... There is a line getting ready over there... Just take a number.


End file.
